


Mercy

by mariuspunmercy



Series: The Princess Universe [3]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Civil War (Marvel), Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Lesbian Disaster Adora (She-Ra), Minor Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Minor Character Death, POV Adora (She-Ra), POV Alternating, POV Glimmer (She-Ra), Past Adora/Catra (She-Ra), adora is still really sAd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2020-09-27 18:44:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20412550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariuspunmercy/pseuds/mariuspunmercy
Summary: Catra reappears in Adora's life at the worst time possible.She can only pray that she's shown mercy on her and her friends, especially after the tough loss of Glimmer's mother, Angella.But throw in a corrupt government official, a framed murder, and an ex girlfriend, Adora has to make a decision that will make or break everyone.





	1. I Defied Death For This

**Author's Note:**

> Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3hXQDpWPsBP8yhHUvUAojs?si=-v9fVBB1RM2DsZV_R7p0fQ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything is the same except Bow is now Hawkeye in this universe instead of Natasha

"You're doing amazing things for your country."

She nodded. She didn't understand why the murder was seen as a service, but she went along with it. She got uneasy as Mara walked to the button. 

"Your sacrifices make the world a better place."

She stayed silent. Mara just looked  _ so much  _ like  _ her,  _ so if she listened to Mara, maybe she'd see the real thing. She misses  _ her.  _ She wants to see  _ her  _ again. The blonde ponytail which is becoming nothing but a distant memory. 

"Are you ready?"

She hated this part. But Mara assured everything would be fine in the end, and Mara reminds her of  _ her,  _ so it's okay with her. She nodded her head yes as she stared at a spot on the wall. 

"Good girl."

Mara held the mouth guard up to her mouth. She opened her mouth and bit down on it as the chair she was sitting in started to recline backwards.

Someone pushed the button as pain coursed through her entire body, the image of blonde hair and blue eyes slowly leaving her mind. 

___

  
  


_ 70 Years Later _

_ ___ _

"We've gathered here today to remember Angella Fukuhara, and all the good she did in her sixty seven years of life," the priest spoke into the microphone. 

Adora dared to glance at Glimmer next to her. The girl stared off into space while trying her best to hold back the tears. Adora gives her ten minutes before she caves and breaks down sobbing. 

It's hard. She remembers both of her parents' funerals. Both times she had someone in her corner, and she intends to be that person for Glimmer right now. No one deserves to go through this alone. 

"Now, some words from her loving daughter, Glimmer."

Everyone around them clapped, from Castaspella two seats down to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who only came out of respect for their former boss. 

"My mom was an incredible and strong woman," Glimmer sniffled. "She created this program from the ground when no one believed in her. Well, no one except my dad. And I'm sure she'd be more than happy to know she's being buried next to him."

Adora's heart shriveled up. She  _ remembers  _ having to dig that hole next to her dad when her mom died. She can remember Adam being away at his station, unable to get a hold of each other in that moment. 

Yet if she went to go visit him today, all she'd get was a once brave and resilient soldier reduced to someone who can hardly remember their own name. 

"When they told us she died in a car crash, I almost didn't believe it. She's stronger than a car crash, but that's what happened and there's nothing I can do except make better cars in my lab. It'll be in her name. She may be gone, but my mother and the director and founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. will never be forgotten. Thank you."

Glimmer practically ran off the podium, frantically swiping at her eyes. She took her seat directly in front of Adora, wrapping her arms around herself to stop her shoulders from shaking. 

The rest of the funeral was a blur. At some point they stood up and individually threw dirt on top of the casket. At another point, they opened the casket to say goodbye one last time for close loved ones and immediate family.

Adora wasn’t one of them.

Not that she really expected to be one of them. But with everything that happened in November, she would’ve thought Glimmer would think higher or her. Or maybe it wasn't her decision to make for whatever reason. 

It’s not important though. What’s important is how Glimmer is doing.

The time flew, and everyone had been gone for a good fifteen minutes now. She saw Glimmer hanging out near a gazebo, hands clutching the black material of her dress.

Out of respect, she wore a black halter dress herself. But for the next funeral she goes to, she swears it’s going to be a suit. She knows that much.

She walked over to Glimmer steadily, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Hey…”

Glimmer looked up from a spot on the floor and turned towards her. “What’s up, iceberg?”

Never has Adora heard Glimmer’s voice that wrecked. That girl cracked jokes when she flew in an alien wormhole and came back after being kidnapped for months asking for a cheeseburger. 

“I know you’re upset,” Adora rubbed her shoulder up and down. “Cut the crap. Or at least don’t do it around me. I know, trust me.”

Glimmer sighed. “I know I should be allowed to feel sad. I mean, my mom died for real this time. Gave a poor jogger a heart attack. But..”

“You don’t think you’re allowed to?”

“Not that I’m not  _ allowed,  _ per say. More like… I mean, everyone is watching me to see what I’ll do next. I’m literally under a microscope and I’ve got people left and right watching my every move. I’ve got S.H.I.E.L.D. breathing down my neck to sign papers and whatnot. If I break down, then…”

Adora could understand that. Back when she was She-Ra during the forties, she had all eyes on her. With the tour and doctors recording every new thing about her, she could understand that viewpoint. 

It wasn’t a fair one. Especially not after losing someone. 

“You know…” she cleared her throat. “When I lost Catra, I still finished my mission on that train.It ruined me and took all my strength, and I almost got really hurt from a moonstone weapon. I did everything I could to distract myself from the thought of her being dead. And you wanna know how good that turned out for me?”

Glimmer allowed herself to smile. “You flew a plane into the middle of the ocean.”

_ “I flew a plane into the middle of the ocean,”  _ Adora repeated in a joking tone. “I burnt myself out trying to be strong as She-Ra, and the world ended up  _ losing _ She-Ra. I came back, but that’s because I got popped in the freezer. Glimmer… you’re not a super soldier.”

Even nowadays she finds herself doing more than what's probably necessary. She's got a plane to catch to Lagos in less than two hours. But she'll stay to make sure that Glimmer is okay for the time being. It doesn't even matter to her if for some reason they leave without her. 

A sniffle. “I know, I…”

“We can’t lose Iron Lady.”   


Glimmer stared at a dead patch of grass. “My aunt keeps telling me that and I know, I swear. But not everyone is counting on her and an entire nation and organization wasn’t left in her hands and-”

“That’s why I’m telling you something. Because I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did.”

“I…” She turned back to Adora, eyes filled with unshed tears and she wrapped her arms around Adora’s middle. “Thank you.”

Adora patted her back lovingly, offering her support as her friend broke down in her arms. “Iron Lady takes care of all of us. It’s my turn to take care of her now.”

*

"Quiet streets. Lots of people. Not many cops. It's a good target," Pefuma said over the coms. 

"There's an ATM at the end of the street, though, so that means cameras," Spinnerella pointed out. "Does our guy not care about being seen?"

"Not afraid of a little audience."

Adora watched from the window she was at, the building nothing but abandoned around her. "There's a little red Range Rover over there. Bulletproof, which means they've actually planned ahead. Just some more headaches for us. They've got some kind of biological weapon, guessing by the heat signatures."

She could practically hear Perfuma's smirk over the coms. "You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"

"We're still going in cautiously," Spinnerella informed. 

"You're a little paranoid, you know," Entrapta'a voice sounded after her silence. 

Spinnerella gasped sarcastically. "What? Who told you that?" 

Adora decided that was the moment to grab everyone's attention again. Too bad Bow decided to retire since he's  _ much  _ better at this than she is. "Okay, guys. Let's focus on the target. This is the biggest lead we've had on S.T.R.I.K.E. and I don't want to lose this."

"Aye aye, ma'am."

She heard some commotion from outside the window adjacent to her. She strode across the floor to it, seeing a garbage truck crashing into everything in sight. And there's only one type of garbage truck that would drive that recklessly. 

"Entrapta, see that garbage truck?" She asked, giving a dramatic pause before going, "Get it."

The sound of Entrapta's robot (dubbed Emily for some reason) was heard through the coms. She smiled and gave it five seconds before S.T.R.I.K.E. noticed Emily and started reeking havoc. 

"The driver has a gun!" Entrapta shouted, her wings making a loud noise. "I'm going in!"

Adora lost sight of the truck as it turned on a corner, but she did see Entrapta's form flying across the sky towards the lost truck. She simply tossed herself out the building and ran to where Entrapta was heading, her boots breaking her fall. 

She blocked all bullets with her sword as she made her way to a hospital of some sort. She quickly counted how many armed people there were before reporting. "I count seven."

Entrapta on the roof caught her eye, her various grunts filling her ears. A couple seconds later, she said, "There's five now."

Perfuma came up over the building, flying in the air with her hands glowing green. She was really utilizing her new powers well. She broke her fall with more glowing green hues, catching bullets in the same light. 

"Entrapta!" Perfuma lifted one of the hostiles in the air, them surrounded in her green powers. 

Entrapta caught the hostile and flew away with him god knows where. "Four." Emily scanned for a second longer before she gave them an update. "Majority are on the third floor. There's some kind of gas, too."

"Perfuma, just like we practiced." Adora stepped backwards and prepared herself to sprint forward. 

"What about the gas?" Perfuma asked as she got in position too. 

"What do you think I'm doing?" She replied sarcastically. She hopped on the roof of a car and leaped as green shrouded her, lifting her until she broke through a third story window. 

She was immediately met with six more hostiles. She assumed she could breathe this air since toxic air affects her differently. She prayed that Glimmer was right as she ripped the gas masks off all of the sentries. 

All six of them gasped, trying desperately to breathe. Adora rammed the hilt of her sword into one of their stomachs, sending them flying backwards and breaking the pillar they crashed into. 

Very dangerously, she grasped at the blade part of her sword and bounced it towards the ground, gravity doing its job and hitting the second hostile in the head, weakening then enough for her. 

It's all she needed to grab the person's legs and sent them hurtling into another pillar. 

The gas expanded, which confused her since it wasn't a solid. The windows shattered, glass raining down on the floor outside the building. She figured that Perfuma would take care of it, assuming she's still outside. 

This is an awful way to go at this, but awful plans are the only way they know how to go at just about anything. 

From her spot watching the window, she saw the gas rising into the air. Two of the hostiles charged at her, and she lifted her fists into their faces. One of them knocked their heads on her sword, and went unconscious immediately. 

The other was stunned, and she took that moment of confusion to grab their head and dig it into her knee, just enough to sleep but not to kill. Though she could've if she really wanted to-

Two more sprinted at her, and all she had to do was sidestep to send them flying out the broken window. She snatched the briefcase out of one of their arms, hoping to see what she actually wanted to. 

Granted, when she opened it, all she got was an empty case of nothing. Great, that's amazing. She pressed her hand to her com and said, "The weapon isn't here."

"On it!" Spinnerella replied, on her way to find a new possible location. 

She looked outside the window as Spinnerella leapt off her motorcycle and onto another vehicle. It took all of seven seconds for the car to light on fire, the assassin sent yards away. She leaned against the edge of the window, but a blast from the outside caught her off guard, and even her sword couldn't protect her. 

Following the lead of the people she flung out the window, she landed on the ground with a painful grunt. Well, that probably stained her very white suit with dirt. She gritted her teeth and slowly got to her knees, clicking on her coms. "Entrapta…"

"Already on it!" The inventor shouted. 

She saw gear on the floor a couple feet away from her. She stood up unsteadily, making her way to the abandoned gear. "Guys, I-"

A cool, metal object brushed past her arm and attached itself to her sword. She threw it in the air and the beeping started, and the bomb exploded midair. A foot connected to her back, and her knees were crumbling at the sudden unbalance. 

Civilians screamed around her as she crashed into some poor vendor's booth. "I've got you, you crazy bitch," the person who'd attacked her said. 

"And don't you forget it." She stood, but they immediately counteracted her with a well angled punch, and she flew even more backwards. They attempted to kick at her head, but she rolled onto her side and away from them. 

She grabbed their head with a tight death grip and headbutted them  _ hard,  _ which only seemed to anger them. They growled and flung her backwards into a newspaper stand. 

They sprinted at her with a knife. She moved her head at the last second, right where they ended up stabbing a wall. A stunned reaction gave her the time she needed, and she kicked their solar plexus. They fell into the center of the town square. 

Adora stalked up to them, ripping their helmet from their face. A man grinned a toothy grin at her, chuckling as she shook him by the shoulders. "Who's your buyer?"

The S.T.R.I.K.E. agent giggled. "She knew you… Your girl, your buddy, your Catra."

Now that's a name that hasn't come out of an enemy's mouth in a while. 

She went on complete autopilot as she was mentally transported back to the age of sixteen, struggling with her identity while being helplessly in love with her best friend. Catra filled her mind all at once and that was the only thing she could think, her hands going slack and knees almost turning to jelly. 

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

"She remembered you!" He threw his head back laughing. "I was there when she did! She started crying and got all emotional. She even wanted me to relay a message!"

She awaited the message. "She said, 'please tell Carrero… When you gotta go, you gotta go'."

His smile changed from amusement to a dead serious face. "...and you're coming with me."

The man brought a button out of his pocket, and she realized what was happening too late. Her eyes went wide and she attempted to move back, but she had no way of protecting the onlookers. 

His bomb exploded, but the fire didn't expand as a bomb usually should. Instead, green engulfed him, screaming in pain as his body burned and the pressure from Pefuma's powers became too much for him to handle. 

Perfuma appeared next to him, her hands raised and also glowing green. Her powers came from the Black Garnet, and she put good use to it by twisting her hands and flying the screaming man above her head. 

She yelled as the man resisted, but it was an unmatched competition since Perfuma was just that powerful. She sent him flying higher and higher until he reached a building, and she flung her hands sideways to throw the man into the window. 

But unfortunately, that caused her to lose concentration on holding the bomb. As soon as the man hit the building, his bomb continued to go off. The building was left in the fiery lights of red and smoke. 

Adora tackled Perfuma and covered her head since she knew the girl was too distracted to take cover herself. People everywhere screamed, and she didn't even want to look up and see the horror unfolding above. 

Perfuma gasped, letting out a strangled sob as the people in the building yelled for help. She covered her mouth with her hands, pressing her face into Adora's shoulder to stifle her cries. Neither of them knew what to think.

"Oh my god.." Adora mumbled, low enough so Perfuma couldn't hear her. She couldn't move, and she couldn't even imagine how awful the mutant had to feel. 

But she had frozen when the agent had mentioned Catra. She could've stopped him before he ever pulled out the goddamn button, but she'd been too distracted and wasn't fast enough and by doing so, she'd handed that baggage off to Perfuma. 

It's the exact opposite of what she told Glimmer. She assumed she'd be fine since Catra's supposed death wasn't recent, but the wound will  _ always _ be fresh and easy to reopen. And she shouldn't allow that. 

"Entrapta…" She said shakily into the coms, finally looking up at the mess she'd set up. The burning building was almost completely covered in smoke, the fire spreading. "Get… some sort of fire and rescue.. for the south side of the building."

Perfuma continued silently crying into her shoulder as Adora patted her head in reassurance. Perfuma refused to look away, even as Adora tried turning her head, and she stared at her burning building with a hand over her mouth. 

No one on the team deserved to deal with Adora's mistakes, and her sword dropped out of her hand as she continued to cradle Perfuma's head. 


	2. Scully, You're Not Gonna Believe This

Glimmer stepped onto the stage with ease. 

It wasn't hard, really. She's used to the spotlight. But so soon after her mom died? Oh, well. She'd agreed to this showcase a while back and now she had to make due with what she has: grief and emotional turmoil. 

She hid behind the  _ other _ other version of herself. The hologram Glimmer who lived in a perfect, hologram world where both of her parents were alive. The loss has been so recent, it took everything in her not to lose it right there. 

Goodbye. She'd said goodbye. She was able to say goodbye. Her mom and dad were both 'going away' and hologram Glimmer told them goodbye the way she had never been able to. 

She stepped out from the shadows and into the spotlight like she's used to. The hologram paused with her mom and dad still on stage. It mentally transported her back to being a child at a time when at least her dad had lived. 

Her sunglasses fell down her nose as she attempted to read the blue letters; the premade speech. She cleared her throat to make sure people could see her. But she's Glimmer Fukuhara. Of course they saw her. "That's how I wish I'd been able to say goodbye. I wish I could've seen my dad a little more in my life… Lots of wishes."

"Biological augmented real framing: BARF." The audience of science college students in the crowd laughed at her little quip. "Yeah, we're still working on a better acronym. It's a  _ very  _ expensive process that makes its way into the hippocampus and genetic memories."

She blew air out, and the hologram faded. "It's not time travel. We're not quite there yet, but it is what it is. It's not gonna actually ever change anything, and it's not another fake death. Pretty costly for nothing but therapy. Over six hundred million dollars. No one would've ever funded this."

Turning to the crowd, Glimmer got a little small smile on her face. She's had to deal with people not wanting to fund her since about diapers. She could hardly remember her dad, instead she heard all the stories. Her mom never truly believed in her. Angella had always been around to keep her in check, and now she doesn't know how to keep herself in check. 

It's something she's never addressed, and she's not going to. She isn't going to admit to anyone that she still needed her mom to help guide her on what's okay and what isn't. No, her ego would never allow for that. 

Her ego is what required her to need her mom in the first place. She's a grown woman at a full twenty six years old who doesn't know what it's like to not have a parental figure in her life. While her mother wasn't the best, at least she  _ helped her.  _ That's what she needs. 

Iron Lady wasn't equipped to run S.H.I.E.L.D. on her own. Sure, Glimmer's handled Fukuhara Industries by herself for a pretty long time now. But S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't just a company. It's a cooperation of people trying to make a difference. Is she really expected to lead these people? 

Whatever. She could deal with her crisis later. She's got an auditorium of college kids waiting for her now. "Now… You lot are facing some of this generation's hardest challenges. And you're doing it completely broke."

That earned a chuckle from everyone. 

But it didn't feel right. Glimmer just wanted someone else by her side. She never had issues standing in front of crowds. She's been in the papers since before birth. Besides the funeral, this is her first public appearance since the death. 

Her aunt had stayed with her as much as possible after they got that phone call. But even Iron Machine had to go back to work at some point. 

Angella had refused a suit. But when she'd gone out of town and Castaspella got stuck on baby-sitting duty, she had no choice but to put that suit on and put Glimmer back in her place before she could damage her reputation even more. 

Why didn't her mom let her  _ protect her?  _ That's all Glimmer really needed. Her suits are her way of showing affection since she's not the greatest. She made Iron Machine, upgraded Spinnerella's bodysuit, gave Bow a new and improved, well, bow. Hell, she'd even made the newest She-Ra suit, much like her dad way back when. 

The only thing people she cares about needed to do was let her protect them. She can't do that when they don't allow her to. She swears up and down that she's the reason Angella couldn't defend herself because Glimmer hadn't given her the means to. 

No one else will pay that price, which is exactly why she did what she does next. 

"Well, more like you were. As of right now, every single one of you has been made equal receivers of the Pursue and Prosper Grant." A dramatic pause as she went, "Which means… All of your projects have just been approved and funded."

S.H.I.E.L.D. gave her way more money than she knew what to do with. Her mom had given her quite literally  _ everything.  _ Plus people have been giving her donations left and right, up and down. As if she wasn't filthy rich before. 

Now she has  _ more _ money, and she doesn't know what to do with all of it. Why not help out some broke college kids who may very well discover something life changing? There's some damn smart kids out there. 

An applause came from the crowd. It puts a smile on her face, and not only that, but the tabloids tomorrow will look  _ great.  _ "No strings, there's not even tax. I want to see you rebrand the future!"

The floating blue letters changed, and she squinted to see if it  _ actually  _ said what she thinks it says. 

_ Now I'd like to welcome the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Angella Fukuhara.  _

Glimmer went completely silent as everyone in the auditorium held their breath for her next words. But they didn't come out. Her body went numb and her throat closed up. Hadn't they changed the goddamn speech after the death was public knowledge? 

Before she could break down in the middle of a college campus, she blinked furiously and smiled at the crowd. "Go change the world. God knows we need it."

She got a standing ovation, but that didn't matter to her. She gave a half hearted wave and almost ran off stage. When she knew she was out of view, she ripped the microphone off her collarbone and readjusted her pink turtleneck, flattening out the black blazer and pulling her black pants up higher on her waist. 

“Ah,  _ amazing  _ job, Glimmer,” one of the sound guys said. “You are literally  _ swimming  _ in cash. Just wondering, is the grant available for faculty?” 

Glimmer tuned out the rest of whatever the guy said. She stared off into the distance as she made her way through the building. A couple of people snapped pictures of her, but she could care less if a couple of people on Instagram saw that she’s at a college. The press would know eventually. 

It doesn’t even matter. Not when someone forgot to take that part out of the speech. It just.. It hit her how much things are going to be in the public now. No longer would she bring Angella Fukuhara to the stage. She wouldn’t be doing press shows with her mom anymore to introduce the newest Fukuhara Watch. It’s just not happening anymore.

A blonde woman ran over to her, the dean she spoke with earlier. “I am so sorry, Ms. Fukuhara. The AV club here on campus told me that they had edited the teleprompter. I didn’t know that they hadn’t done it.

“It’s…” After doing this really good thing and donating money, she didn’t need to be in the tabloids for using her gauntlet on some poor woman. “I’ll be back.”

She walked away from the duo that she would  _ not  _ be returning to. 

Come  _ on  _ people. Glimmer freaking Fukuhara is coming to their school. They should be trying their damn hardest to make sure that everything is in place. 

She exited out the door and made her way to the elevator. She didn’t really care that she had zero security, as opposed to the dozens of guards she had as she arrived here. She passed the bathroom on her way out, contemplating for about a second if she should go back in there and apologize for nearly having a tantrum.

Nah.

Glimmer shook her head, seeing a man already standing in front of the elevator. She made her way over to him, offering him a polite smile as they waited for the lift to come back up together. She pulled off her signature sunglasses so she could see properly.

“That was nice…” The man said, breaking the silence. “What you did for all those students in there… It was nice.”

He was dressed in a nice black button up with black pants, only having a velvet purple blazer paired to top everything off. He looked very refined; more than any college faculty member she’s ever seen. 

Glimmer backed up into the wall suspiciously, trying to appear nonchalant. “Ah, yeah well, they deserve it. It’s a nice distraction after everything. Eases the conscious.” 

God, she wished someone had believed in her when she was younger. Her mom held her back, and maybe it was out of a place of love and to keep her safe. The one time Angella wasn’t there and Glimmer unknowingly started the whole organization of The Princesses. 

(Technically, Adora was first. But no one else really needed to know that, right?)

After who knows how long of telling her mom  _ no,  _ she wasn’t doing it, she finally caved. Maybe if she had never agreed, her mom would’ve never gotten truly tangled in a mess other than S.H.I.E.L.D. Getting caught up with Adora last November was the root of the problem.

But she doesn’t blame Adora. She blames herself.  _ Why  _ had she advised her mom to fake her death instead of coming clean about the fake out and staying safe?

The man hummed. “You know, they say there’s a thin line between generosity and guilt. But when you got the money… You gotta change the world because god says so.”

Glimmer whipped her head up, chuckling awkwardly at her attempt to get off stage before she literally had a panic attack. She pressed the elevator button again, hoping it'll somehow speed up the process. "Are you going up?"

He shook his head. "I'm already where I want to be." He reached into his blazer pocket, sending her into a whirlwind of panic. 

"Wait, hey, no no," Glimmer grabbed his wrist from fear of an attack. She doesn't really have the time or energy to deal with this right now. Embarrassment crawled through her when the man brought out a piece of paper. 

She mentally scolded herself for being so paranoid. Her mom always hated when she did that. But unfortunately, paranoia came with this kind of job. "Sorry… Occupational hazard." 

"I work for the state, under Shadow Weaver," the man informed. "Just a desk job. Nothing too crazy. Pretty boring. But it gave me what I needed to raise my daughter. I'm so proud of what she's become. What she became."

The man unfolded the paper, showing her a picture of a brunette girl before shoving it against her chest. "Her name was Gina Melendez. And  _ you  _ murdered her."

Glimmer stayed silent because she had no clue what this man was talking about. "You and your team did a whole lotta damage in Sokovia. More than you probably care about. You tell others you fight for us." He chuckled and said, "No. You only fight for yourself."

She couldn't defend herself. True, when she first started this whole Iron Lady thing, she didn't have a single person in her mind except herself, and trying not to get killed after Afganistan. But this mirrored what Adora told her back in 2012, and she likes to think that she'd at least changed a bit from when that happened. 

Had she not? 

"No one protected my daughter when a building came toppling down on her because she wanted to travel the world before going to NYU. She's dead, and it's your fault."

He practically spat at her and walked away with disgust written all over his expression. Glimmer always accounted for casualties, but didn't do anything else besides that. Never checked up on families, nada.

She sighed when her phone rang, Shadow Weaver's name put on display for her. She answered, not even able to say hello because there's no way she could talk right now without crying. 

"Iron Lady! Just who I needed to talk to…" 

*

"There have been eleven deaths after the Princesses intervened in Lagos." 

Adora watched the news with a heavy heart. 

She doesn't know why she's watching. It's honestly making her emotions go all haywire. But she couldn't  _ stop  _ blaming herself. She's the one who froze when some random guy she's never met before mentioned Catra. That shouldn't happen to She-Ra. 

The audio continued playing, even after she shut it off. But this sounded like an echo. It's coming from another room, and she knew exactly who was playing the television still. 

She stood up from the table and made her way over to Perfuma's room. She understood why the other would rewatch footage of the same thing over and over again, but Adora should stop that before it gets too serious. 

The remote sat on top of a dresser. She walked into the open room with ease, then silently turned off the TV. 

Perfuma didn't even turn around, and instead hugged her knees to her chest. "It's my fault."

"That isn't true." But Adora knew how stubborn Perfuma was, how they  _ all  _ were. 

"Oh, yeah? Tell that to the eleven dead people."

"I should've dealt with that bomb before you ever had to," she sighed, getting mentally ready to explain the next part. "That man said Catra and all of a sudden I could only think of those sixteen year old kids from New York." 

She made her way deeper into the room, sitting next to Perfuma on the bed. "But that… I shouldn't have froze up. That's on me."

Perfuma smiled sadly, turning away. "It's on both of us, then."

"This  _ job…"  _ She remembered how empty and numb she got when Catra fell off the train because Adora couldn't reach her in time. "It's about saving as many people as we can. And sometimes, it doesn't mean all of them. We just.. gotta find some way to live with it because next time, no one gets saved."

Perfuma stared intently at the floor and opened her mouth to say something when Scorpia phased through the wall. You know, instead of using the door like a normal person. Well, superhuman more like. 

"Scor, we've talked about this," Perfuma childed. Adora would like to know when they had this 'no going through walls' chat, but that's a teasing for another day. 

"Yeah but.." Scorpia pointed at the doorway. "The door was open, so I thought it was okay. I assumed…" The girl trailed off, choosing to change the topic instead. "Ms. Carrero wanted to know when Ms. Fukuhara was arriving."

Adora's grateful for Scorpia, but she didn't know how she would deal with a compound full of grieving people now. "Thank you. Let her know we'll be down in a minute."

Scorpia nodded and cocked her head towards the door. "I'll.. use the door this time." She moved awkwardly, and brightened up when she reached the doorway. "Oh, and she's brought a guess."

Well, that's a surprise. "Do we know who?"

"Secretary of state," Scorpia said no problem. "Dr. Shadow Weaver." She exited as Adora sighed. 

"What does that bitch want now?" She wondered out loud, offering a hand to a laughing Perfuma. 

They made their way to the living room in silence. Good, because it gave her time to think about why the doctor would be here in the first place. There's really no real reason. Nothing to be amended, no new people (as of recent). 

So  _ why _ is she here? 

Everyone was already sat at the table, save for Glimmer who sat in a random chair off to the side. She nodded a hello at Castaspella, who she'd only seen at the funeral. Entrapta smiled at her, but quickly looked down again. Spinnerella didn't even glance up. 

"Let me cut to the chase," Shadow Weaver said, her black hair fanning her face. "First of all, we owe the Princesses an unpayable debt. You've saved our lives over and over again, and for that, the world is grateful. You protect us at the risk of your lives. Many see you as heroes. But some… some call you vigilantes."

"How do you see us, secretary?" Spinnerella questioned. 

"I call you dangerous," Shadow Weaver said simply. "You're enhanced people. Sometimes, the normal people get hurt. Quite frankly, it seems you don't care about what you leave behind." 

The secretary picked up a remote from the table and pointed it at the screen. A video of Netossa smashing things in New York. The video cut to D.C. last year when the helicarriers crashed into the water. 

Her breath hitched. Why would Shadow Weaver show them this? Everyone in this room is well aware of innocent casualties, and there's no reason to be reopening old wounds. At least not again. She doesn't think she could handle another reminder of that again. 

The next clip was Sokovia, showing Iron Lady holding the city. Glimmer in the chair had her face in her hands, seemingly not paying attention to Shadow Weaver's little history lesson. A building toppled over, and Glimmer let out a choked noise. 

Then it went on to show Lagos and the burning building. Shadow Weaver didn't even say anything. All the footage spoke for itself. Perfuma gasped as an image of someone being rolled into an ambulance on a stretcher was shown on screen. 

"That's enough, Ms. Secretary," Adora informed. She could take the beatings, but when this woman starts using Perfuma's emotions against her… That's where someone's gotta draw the line. 

Shadow Weaver clicked the screen off. "We've allowed the Princesses to have no supervisor and unlimited power. The rest of the world no longer wants to operate that way. We've come up with a solution."

She slapped a thick book onto the table. "The Etherian Accords. One hundred and fifteen countries have already signed. If you read, you'll see it explains that the Princesses would no longer be a private organization. A United Nations panel would be created to supervise you lot. You will not act on a threat until, and only until that panel gives you the go-ahead." 

...what? 

That basically defeats their whole purpose. Everyone went into this with the intent of helping people and making sure the earth isn't destroyed by aliens. Not to sit around until a group decides that they can. 

"The Princesses were created to make the world a safer place," Adora said matter of factly. "And we've done exactly that."

"Tell me where Mermista and Netossa are." 

When everyone fell into silence, Shadow Weaver tsked. "See, and if I misplaced a couple of nukes, you'd bet there'd be consequences. The world can only work under compromise and reassurance. Now this.." She tapped the book with her fingertips. "This is a compromise to reassure everyone everywhere."

Castaspella sat up in her chair. "So how long-"

"In three days, there will be a meeting at the U.N. to sign these accords. Talk it over."

"What if we come to a decision you don't like?" Spinnerella raised an eyebrow. 

"Then you retire."

Adora turned around at Glimmer. Seriously? These are the kind to guests she's bringing around? Neither of them watched as the woman left, instead choosing to stare at each other. 

Glimmer grasped the same remote and turned on the screen, an image of a brunette girl flashing to life. She stood and pointed to the girl with heartbroken eyes. "See this girl? Her name is Gina Melendez. Cute kid, huh?"

Adora narrowed her eyes at the picture. Glimmer is looking at it with such  _ pain  _ that she's getting suspicious. What makes a person view a picture with that kind of agony, especially if said person has never mentioned the girl in the image. 

"Perfect grades and valedictorian. She was on varsity for tennis, basketball, and track. She wanted to travel the world before she went to NYU. Didn't go to Paris or Vegas like the rest of us would've. She was in Mystacore for a while. Her last mission was to build houses for the poor. Her last destination was, you guessed it, Lagos."

And just like that, the surprise visit made a lot more sense. 

"The doc does have a medal of honor given to her by congress," Castaspella pointed out. 

"We can't agree to something like this!" Entrapta protested, getting riled up. "How much longer before we get put in some cell next to a lowlife criminal?"

"Well, a hundred and fifteen countries already see us as people who need to be limited so…" Castaspella raised her arms in mock defense. "But I get it, Entrapta. You're like… nah it's cool."

Entrapta has a very sarcastic and, at times, overactive personality. Now everyone can tolerate that. Adora made sure of that. But when it comes to situations like this where they need to be _serious, _it's easy for others to see this as carelessness and brash. 

Adora decided to step in. "Now, let's see both sides…"

From the way that Shadow Weaver described the accords, they didn't sound like a good thing. 

"Since Glimmer has announced herself as Iron Lady, the amount of threats this world faces have increased," Scorpia cut in. "Especially  _ enhanced  _ threats."

Adora picked up the book and started flipping through it. Something about Scorpia's tone rubbed her the wrong way. "So you're saying this is our fault?"

"I'm saying there's a valid point being brought up."

"Glimmer…" Spinnerella started, staring down the billionaire. Now that's a staring contest for the books. "You've been pretty quiet this whole time considering you let Shadow Weaver come into the compound."

It made sense. The weird presentation of some random kid to the way Glimmer held her face in her hands. She blames herself for making the portal that ripped apart Sokovia and ended up almost dropping a whole city down to the Earth's core after flinging it into the sky. 

More importantly, she understood the motives. 

Adora sighed as she read the part about vigilantes unable to get a trial and being detained immediately. "That's because she already made up her mind."

Glimmer removed her face from her hands to roll her eyes at Adora. "Wow, you know me so well. Listen, there's no decision to be made. We need to be kept in place before we screw up even more. It doesn't matter to me what kind. We just.. We  _ need  _ to. Without boundaries, we are not better than the other criminals."

When she was She-Ra back in the day, even when Catra died, she continued on. She didn't give up. Adora believes in taking a pause when needed, yeah, but to basically outright stop fighting? What?"

"When people die, we don't give up," Adora said. "We all need to take responsibility for our actions. But we can't shift the blame like this document is doing."

"Adora…" Castaspella inhaled, probably to stop herself from throttling Adora. "That sounds very arrogant considering we haven't gone all the way through the book yet. This is the goddamn United Nations-"

"Which is filled with people who have an agenda that's a huge variable at any given moment."

"Listen ice cube, that's why I'm here." Glimmer shrugged, smiling sadly. "I had an agenda to manufacture weapons at Fukuhara Industries. Now, I found out how my weapons were being used, and I stopped that immediately."

"Okay but… You chose to do that. Signing this gets rid of that choice." She realizes how badly this could go if the 'panel' is using them. "What do we do when this panel sends us somewhere we don't need to? Or when we have somewhere important and we can't make it because they said we can't? We're not perfect, but at least we're the safest option."

"If we don't do this now, it'll happen later in the future." Yeah, to the next generation. And they should get to choose if they want to sign or not. 

"They'll come for me." Perfuma's voice cracked as she glared at something on the table. 

"We'll protect you," Glimmer reassured. 

"I say that maybe Glimmer's right," Spinnerella interjected. "Having one hand on the wheel still lets us steer."

Adora's heart basically shattered in that moment. If anyone else could see how bullshit these papers are, it's Spinnerella, the most responsible person on this team. But if she sees this for how things are…

"Last month, in a court case against Adora, we told the government to kiss our ass," Entrapta argued. Now  _ that  _ makes more sense, and sounds more like the team. 

"We've made a lot of mistakes, and we've done them in public. We need their trust back."

Her phone beeped in her pocket. Really? At a time like this? She rolled her eyes as she fished out her phone, tuning out Glimmer and Spinnerella saying… something. 

_ He's gone. In his sleep.  _

Adora could literally feel her heart crawl out of her chest and lodge itself into her throat. "I have to go," she hastily told the others as she scrambled out of the room, not paying attention as everyone watched her practically run out with unshed tears in her eyes. 

She made her way to a random stairwell and collapsed, sliding down the wall and onto a stair. Her tears were free to fall, but she was careful not to make too much noise. Her composure completely fell because  _ this is the last of her family.  _ Where does she go now? The Princesses are all she has left. But then again, maybe that's not a hot idea. 

She-Ra failed to save her girlfriend. 

Now, she'd failed as Adora to spend time with her brother before it was too late. 

*

When they told her she'd be carrying the casket, Adora almost broke down then and there. 

They said they'd be giving Adam a military service. Of course they obviously would because he was in the freaking army. But the patriotism rubbed her in a funky way, considering everything happening with the government. 

While the choir sang, her and three other men would be carrying the casket. She'd dressed up in an all black suit, following the example set by the others. She didn't even know these people, yet they assisted her in carrying her brother's body. 

There were  _ so  _ many people here. She forgot how many lives Adam touched. Despite all the attention that seems to revolve around this service, she still allowed herself to cry and to let the tears fall freely down her face, but she kept her composure. 

A picture of Adam from the forties was waiting for them at the end. It was surrounded by the most beautiful flowers, and she really can't tell you why the arrangement made her somehow more emotional. 

Entrapta, who didn't know Adam personally, sat with an open seat next to her. When they set the casket down, Adora just about ran to the empty space. She had been asked to give a speech, but she declined since she wasn't really a part of his life when she woke up. She didn't deserve to speak at his funeral. 

So she stayed silent and quietly cried next to Entrapta. She bit her lip to muffle the sounds. She can't go through the pain of losing someone again. With everything that's been going on lately, she… Adora just  _ can't.  _

She doesn't know when everyone left. She hadn't even realized the service was over until she finally glanced up from the spot on the floor and realized everyone had left except for Entrapta on her left and Bow clapping a hand on her shoulder from behind. 

"When I came out of the ice…" She started in a broken voice. "I was pretty sure I'd lost everyone. But I found out that he was alive and.. I was just happy he was alive."

"He got you back too, you know," Bow tried reassuring. "It can't have been easy to have listened and been on the call with you when you crashed that plane."

Well, he's not wrong. She'd been in communications with the base when she made the decision to crash the plane. She talked it out with Adam and they'd made plans to go see a movie. According to every history lesson, she'd been cut off mid sentence the moment the plane hit the ground. All the while she'd been calling him and put him through that pain. 

But then it hit her that while she dealt with this, the others are probably still arguing over the accords. 

"Who else is going to sign?" She questioned, trying to distract herself from the issue at hand.

Bow obviously didn't want to tell her, and Entrapta's eye roll was a huge indication of that. "...Glimmer, Castaspella, Scorpia."

Adora almost didn't ask due to his hanging up the bow. "You?"

Bow whistled, raising his arms and shaking his head. "No, I'm not getting myself involved in that mess." 

"Perfuma?"

"Said she'll decide later," Entrapta smiled tightly. She obviously didn't enjoy this arrangement. 

"But Spinnerella is heading over to Etheria for the signing," Bow added in. "She purposely waited just in case you wanted to join her on the jet."

After a beat of silence, he started back up again as Entrapta walked out. Either they'd already hashed it out, or Entrapta didn't want to hear this crap. "She said… Glimmer wanted me to tell you that maybe the path of less resistance isn't always the wrong one."

The Princesses staying together as a team is the most important factor here. They weren't going to let a book of papers destroy the best defenders Earth has. Maybe the easiest thing is to just… submit. 

"When would we have to do it?" Adora asked out of pure curiosity and with only the team's well being in mind. If she signed, others would surely follow. But then again… What would they be giving up if they were to sign? What message does that relay? "Sorry… Tell Spinnerella I won't be on that jet."

"I know," he shrugged. "I always did."

"What are you doing then?" It doesn't sound like he's for or against these accords. More like relaying a message. 

"I know Entrapta came but she's too caught up in those papers right now…" He smiled as he looked at her. "I didn't want you to be alone."

And damn it, if she wasn't grateful. 

Adora stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Bow's neck, and he grabbed her middle. Adam would've loved to see that she made a friend that she could rely on so much. She refused to lose this team to those accords, but she'd find another way besides signing. 

She had to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bzzZZTT


	3. And Then I Didn't

"Over one hundred countries have come together for a special U.N. event: the signing of the Etherian Accords."

Glimmer watched the news feed from down below. She smiled to herself as she looked at the logical people from the Princesses who actually came to sign and weren't being stubborn babies about everything. 

Someone was asking Spinnerella for her signature for  _ something.  _ She watched as an unknown woman walked up to the murderous assassin. Glimmer decided she should step in before anything happens. 

Just in case, ya know?

"Hello," Glimmer greeted. "I am Gli-"

"Glimmer Fukuhara, yes. I assume you know where I am from?" The woman guessed. 

This time, Spinnerella saved her. "Mystacore. A lovely place this time of year. I hope your mother decides to come. After all, having the royal family here would sell the point to everyone."

The girl smiled. "Please, no formalities. Call me Lonnie. My mother will be here shortly."

Glimmer has really got to keep up more with the news. She forgot about Mystacore going public with how advanced their country actually is. She supposes she could always use Scorpia for information, but… 

"Although," Lonnie started. "I am saddened to hear that Ms. Carrero will not be joining us today."

Glimmer smiled tightly when Lonnie turned to face her. "Yeah, so am I."

Adora left her in an impossible situation. Glimmer knew she would be questioned about this. She knew everyone would be wondering where the great and amazing Adora Carrero is. She had to lie through her teeth. 

She hates lying to these important countries. Especially one as untrusting as Mystacore. If they found out that she was lying, she doesn't even know what would happen. Considering everything, it's not a matter of if. It's a  _ when.  _

But it's all seriously Adora. Adora has to hold her head up and this and that. She never stopped to think about how this would ultimately look on the Princesses. 

What was the reason she wasn't signing? Because it would go against everything they stood for? How is anyone besides a princess going to know that. Absolutely no one and that's how Adora majorly screwed herself over. 

If even  _ Scorpia,  _ the human Google with the Black Garnet attached to her mind and body is signing, maybe everyone should reconsider. Now, Scorpia is someone who couldn't actually make it to the signing, unlike Adora. 

Glimmer did notice how Adora seemed to be the only one people asked for. A couple questions about Bow came in, but at least he's full on retired. To be a librarian of all things. Who would've thought… 

"May everyone please be seated," a voice announced. 

"That sounds like my cue," Lonnie laughed quietly. "It's a pleasure to know you lot."

Glimmer placed her hand on Spinnerella's lower back and led her away to one of the seats. Someone spoke about the dangers of the world and how they're glad that the Princesses are supporting the accords. 

Well, mostly at least. 

A woman who was taller than Lonnie, but looked almost identical to her walked into the room and stood to the podium. Glimmer could only assume this is the mother that had been expected to arrive. 

Lonnie herself wandered to the window, staring outside with a small smile. Glimmer couldn't help but summarize the mysterious girl. Even if Mystacore had been public, there'd been no outside transportation for centuries. At least not until Angella died and the country felt the need to offer their support to the world. 

See, that's how Glimmer knows at least her mother didn't die for nothing. She knows her mom is important when whole countries decide to open their borders because the woman is no longer among them. 

A muffled shouting was heard, and Spinnerella grasped her wrist. They all heard it and searched the room with quizzical looks. 

Lonnie turned around and shouted, "Everyone get down!" 

There's an attack. 

An explosion rocked the building. Smoke filled every window. She could hear Lonnie screaming and crying. Glimmer tried to find her, but she couldn't see her own hand in front of her over the black veil of smoke. 

She prayed to every deity out there that Lonnie didn't just lose her mother the second she walked into the room. The timing was way too perfect, anyways. Someone had been waiting for the ruler of Mystacore and didn't set the bomb off until then. 

Her remorse went to Lonnie and Lonnie only. She didn't care about smoke inhalation or even to check if she's okay first. Her heart went out to a girl who might've lost her mother, and she feels for anyone that ever has to go through that pain. 

Helicopters were heard, and Glimmer decided to finally take initiative. She stood and called her gauntlet with her Fukuhara watch. It wrapped around her hand in less than ten seconds, and she flashed the light so everyone could see her. 

"People, follow me outside!" She called, leading the group of diplomats away from the burning floor. They ran down the stairs and out the building, everyone collapsing due to the smoke. 

Spinnerella nodded at her in acknowledgement, then ran off to greet a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She recognized Rogelio from November, when her mom had sent the agent to babysit Adora. Then she noticed Lonnie sitting on a bench with a lifeless stare. 

God, no…

Glimmer sat on a bench across from the girl, still in hearing distance. "I am so sorry…" 

Lonnie clutched a silver ring. "On Mystacore, dying is not where it ends. We consider it more of a fresh start. It leads you to where you can run forever in the green forest so no one will ever bother you again."

"That sounds very peaceful," Glimmer offered. 

"For my mother, yes…" Lonnie slipped the ring on her finger. "But I am not her."

Now, she doesn't know where this is going, but she'd rather it stay in the conversation. "Lonnie… Someone will figure out who the bomber is, and we will apprehend them."

She pointed to a bar across the street where a TV was playing, showing off the attack. In big bold letters, it read:

_ CATRINA "CATRA MICHALKA: WAR HERO OR WAR CRIMINAL?  _

The footage showed the Horde Soldier leaving the building with a grocery bag, which is probably presumed to be the bomb at this point. The girl in the video didn't even look dazed, which made this even scarier. 

Adora really knew how to pick them, huh? 

*

"Mother _ fucker…" _

Adora watched the news from a bar across the street from where the signing was taking place. She didn't go to sign because lord knows she wasn't going to, but she did happen to see what happened with the bomb. 

Also the news reporting that apparently it had been Catra who set it off. 

Bow called her as she watched the TV, her hat going lower on her face as she hid behind her hands. She reluctantly picked up, but she knew almost exactly what he was going to say to her. 

"Hey… Are you okay?" Bow greeted. "I'm watching the news right now and-"

Adora rolled her eyes, even if he couldn't see her. (She had sunglasses on, so he wouldn't have seen her anyways). "No, yeah, I'm freaking great. I wasn't signing nor was I in the building," she replied sarcastically. 

He must've known what her problem actually was. He knew the reason she's acting the way she is because he said, "Look, I know what Catra means to you. I really do. But with everything going on, I'm telling you to do the smart thing and get a plane home or else you'll make this worse."

She should take these words to heart. Glimmer shouldn't have to deal with her, and she would probably just put Catra in jeopardy if she tried intervening. But what else is she supposed to do? Let it go and leave her friend behind for a second time? 

No, she can't do that again! 

"What's Glimmer gonna do?" She scoffed at the ridiculous thought. "Would she arrest me if I step in?"

Bow sounded impatient now.  _ "No,  _ but… someone else will. It works like that now."

She couldn't admit it. She doesn't _want _to admit it. There's no way Catra would've set up a bomb and exploded a building with hoards of people. But then again, they're talking about the same girl that has tried to kill her.

"If she really is that far gone… Then I want to be the one that brings her in," Adora stated. And when she's sure about something having to do with Catra, that's that and its final. 

"Why? Why does it have to always be you?" Bow tried arguing. 

She thought back to after everything with the helicarriers. She somehow isolated Catra and talked to her, plus managing not to get killed. There was hesitation on Catra's part almost the entire time, and she had to rely on that. 

"Because I'm the one who's least likely to die." Adora hung up, not really interested in whatever else Bow had to offer. 

She heard the bell on the door open, and someone sat next to her on the stool. She already knew who it was since she already contacted him two minutes beforehand. 

"Tips have been coming in like crazy since the news aired that footage," Rogelio said matter of factly. "Apparently, the Horde Soldier goes to their book club meetings. It's all nonsense. Well…" He pulled a vanilla folder out of his coat. "Except for this."

Adora took it in her finger tips, opening her navy blue jacket and hiding it. Her white dri-fit shirt was a bit transparent, but at least the jacket hid everything well. 

"I wish I could give you more," Rogelio added. "But my boss needs the files, and this was the only one I managed to get before the others were taken."

"Thank you."

"You have to hurry." Rogelio got up from the stool and started walking out. "Our orders are to shoot on sight." 

On that happy note, he left. 

"Entrapta…" She said over the communicator in her ear. She opened the folder and saw the address for two blocks from this current location. "Meet me on fifty fourth street ASAP."

Adora had to move in the shadows. If someone saw her, they'd no doubt call Glimmer and the others to come fetch her. The last thing they needed was for someone to get arrested. 

She walked through the subway tunnels to get to her destination. Not going on the trains actually proved to be pretty effective, considering how close Catra's supposed address is. She got there sooner than S.H.I.E.L.D. would realize one of their files is missing. 

Her suit lay heavy in her backpack. She contemplated whether or not she should put it on, and ultimately decided she'd have far better protection with it. She snaked her way into the subway bathroom and climbed out the window once she got everything on. 

She leaped onto one rooftop, and that led to the next after the next. She continued to jump gracefully but also managing to stay hidden to ensure no one calls anyone on her. So when she landed in front of the address, she was already feeling pretty nervous. 

Making her way up the stairs of the apartment building, she very carefully (and tentatively) opened the door. She had no idea if Catra was home, and what she would do if she saw Adora casually doing some breaking and entering. 

Luckily, no one seemed to be home. 

Everything seemed so… empty. There were no decorations on the wall, or even any sort of bedding. She saw a notebook next to a mattress on the floor, and she decided to snoop through that first while she waited for Catra to get home. 

Adora picked up the notebook and opened it to a random page. The most notable detail were the obvious water droplets. The ink smeared in those areas, and the paper seemed to be more wrinkled in those places. 

But it wasn't until she actually read what it said that she got way more confused that she already was. 

**_DON'T_** **_FORGET ADORA DON'T FORGET ADORA DON'T FORGET CARRERO DON'T FORGET CARRERO ADORA IS THE SHE-RA HER NAME IS ADORA CARRERO DON'T FORGET HER DON'T FORGET ADORA REMEMBER REMEMBER ADORA CARRERO DON'T FORGET ADORA DON'T FORGET ADORA CARRERO DON'T FORGET ADORA _**

She was left… speechless. 

The hardly readable writing suggests that this was written in a hurry. The chicken scratch looks nothing like Catra's old writing, but she has no clue if things have really gotten  _ that  _ bad. 

Why does Catra need to remember her? What about her was so intriguing that she just couldn't be forgotten? If she really didn't give a shit about Adora, then she wouldn't be trying so hard to make sure she doesn't forget. 

That means something, right? 

It's totally not a reminder to kill her and she's just another mission. If she's being optimistic (and she is), she hopes that Catra is trying her hardest not to forget the girl who fought her miles up in the sky. 

"Heads up, C," Entrapta warned over the coms where she was perched on a building across the street. "Someone called in for special forces. They're coming your way from the south."

She sighed. There always had to be something, huh. "Got it."

A creaking from the wood floors came from behind her. Adora whipped around slowly. If they shoot on sight, it has to be S.H.I.E.L.D. But no one's attacked her yet, which means… 

Catra stood in full glory, a beat up baseball cap perched on her head while she wore a red V-neck long sleeve and black jeans. Did she steal this outfit? Who gave it to her? 

"Hey, Adora."

She put the journal down gently. She faced her oldest friend with confidence. "You know who I am?"

Catra stared at her for a beat before responding with, "You're Adora. I saw you in a museum."

Entrapta's groggy voice came back. "They've set the perimeter. Place is surrounded."

Adora stepped lightly. She doesn't know if the little things are going to send Catra in a murderous rage or whatever. "I know you must be scared. You're allowed to be. But your notebook tells me you're lying about having only heard of me from a museum."

Catra didn't even bother justifying her actions. Instead, she says, "I'm not the one who set off the bomb. I don't do that anymore." 

"Adora, they're coming up!" Entrapta shouted. 

"Well, people think that you did. Those people are coming up your staircase right now. They don't plan to keep you alive for very long either."

"They're smart," Catra admitted, looking down at the floor. "It's a good strategy."

"We're compromised! They're on the roof!" Entrapta called out. 

_ "Please,  _ Catra," Adora pleaded. Lord knows how everyone would react if she got into a fight with S.H.I.E.L.D. right now. "This doesn't have to end with a fight."

Catra had the audacity to chuckle as she threw her grocery bag on the floor, plums and grapes spilling out. "It  _ always  _ ends in a fight."

"Five seconds, Adora! Get out of there!"

But she couldn't. She can't leave Catra behind again. If she'd gone to check up on the spot after the train fall, maybe Adora would've found something. She could've saved her best friend. If she could go back in time, she'd do things differently a thousand times over. 

Her last resort was what happened after the helicarrier fight. "You pulled me out of the water before I could drown and you stayed with me while I talked. I woke up with new clothes and all my wounds clean and bandaged.  _ Why?" _

Catra pulled a glove off her left hand, and a metal arm encompassed her view. "I don't know."

"Three seconds!"

Adora almost chuckled herself. "Yeah, you do."

Something metal flew in through the window, but she swung her sword like a baseball bat and sent it outside. Someone shouted something in another language from outside the door, and Catra raised her mattress as a shield. 

Catra kicked her desk, which went in the direction of her door and barricaded it. But nothing was blocking the windows. Agents broke every window and started shooting even before their feet hit the ground, not caring if they hit the Horde Soldier or She-Ra. 

When an agent aimed their gun at her, Adora hit their arm with her sword so the most they shot was the ceiling. Another one threw Catra across the room, which distracted Adora long enough for someone else to actually make a good shot at her. 

Catra leaped in front of her, the bullet hitting her metal palm and ricocheted off. But her agenda quickly turned murderous when she threw said agent through the window and off the building.

She can't be this far gone. Someone has to do something. 

Adora grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "Catra, stop!" Catra grabbed hold of her wrist. "You're going to kill someone!"

Apparently, she made a mistake by grabbing the metal arm. Catra lifted her and slammed her back into the ground. Hard enough to crack the cheap wood, but not enough to leave her winded. 

Catra punched the ground right next to Adora's head. She was able to roll out of the way easy enough, which posed a question: why didn't Catra just go for the kill? 

"I'm not gonna kill anyone…" She muttered. She dug a backpack from the floorboards next to her and threw it out the window onto the next building over. 

Another agent ran in, shooting on sight. Catra had leaped in front and blocked the bullets with her arm, but Adora raised her one. She jumped to her feet and used her sword to deflect all incoming targets, of course going in front of Catra. 

But Catra didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment. She grabbed onto the gold shoulder cuffs on the She-Ra suit and threw Adora backwards, launching her out of the building and landing on top of another agent. 

Adora took quick care of that. One small punch with barely any effort knocked them unconscious. But she was pretty damn alarmed when she turned back to search the house and found nobody inside. 

Where the hell did everyone go? 

A series of gunshots went off. She jumped back inside through the broken window and ran towards the sound. The first thing she saw was an agent on the ground, calling for reinforcements. 

She grabbed hold of the walkie talkie and crushed it in her hand. She took in the scene, realizing they're on the staircase. She leaped down a level to where Catra fought with another agent, throwing him down the middle with no remorse. 

No one is going to die. If she wanted to prove to everyone of Catra's innocence, then no one could get seriously too injured. Adora managed to catch the agent by the straps of his suit, turning to face where Catra watched with a puzzled expression. 

"Come on, man…" She muttered impatiently to Catra. She threw the man over her shoulder since she had, ahem,  _ better  _ things to do. 

Catra grabbed the edge of the railing and bent it to get onto the level below. Adora doesn't understand why she had to be so extra about it, but she saw someone lift their gun to shoot. Adora threw her sword, knocking the agent into the wall. 

Again, Catra didn't appreciate the help. She shook her head, and jumped off the stairwell and into the center. 

Adora groaned, grabbing her sword from where it was ledged in the wall. She punched a window and looked outside, but she became major confused when she saw Catra fighting someone with a black cat suit. 

...what the hell? 

Entrapta shouted through the coms, "Hey, where are you?"

"South rooftop!" She ran backwards and jumped off her toes, ready to be assisted by the flying girl. 

"Woah, woah, hold up," Entrapta exclaimed. "Who the hell is the other guy?"

Adora waited until she landed on the roof with a roll to respond. "That's what I'm about to find out."

A helicopter that came out of literally nowhere started shooting at the cat, but the bullets had no effect on Catra or the other guy. If anything, they seemed like more of an annoyance. 

"Entrapta…" Adora started. 

Entrapta's flying figure knocked into the helicopter's motor, sending the contraption out of control. Adora turned in time to see Catra running away with her backpack, the cat following close behind her. 

Adora sprinted to catch up, and all three of them vaulted off the building. The helicopter continued to shoot, but Catra ran into a parking lot with multiple stories to get some protection, and ran as fast as she could. 

Cars began to honk at her, and the cat wasn't letting up. The mystery person followed close behind, and Adora had no choice but to go after the pair as well. 

The cat seemed to also be enhanced. They were able to keep up with Catra, a super soldier. But Adora was also a super soldier, and she was able to run just as fast. 

Police sirens appeared behind her. Great, because that's the last fucking thing they need right now. "Stand down!" The police continued to shout, and she didn't take them seriously until they hit her with a fucking car. 

Then again, she  _ is  _ She-Ra. All she did was stand up, brush her shoulder and she took off running again, sword now constantly being kept at the ready. 

Wait a second… 

She took note of the first motorcycle she saw. She would hopefully return it later, but she started the vehicle by picking at the keyhole with her nails. She stepped on the gas until she reached seventy seven. 

In the (not so) distance, she could see the cat leaping off car to car, sunroof to sunroof. She pressed the pedal harder, and put both of her feet on the seat. She fully stood when she got closer to the cat, and she ridiculously felt like she was riding a surfboard. 

"Entrapta…" She spoke into the coms. "Who is this guy?"

"We still have zero clue," Entrapta admitted. 

The amount of police cars started to become overwhelming. She controlled the handlebars with her foot, slamming into the truck that the cat was currently on. The cat let go with one hand, but had a tight grip on the other. 

Catra started heading for the exit. No,  _ no. Not  _ before Adora could get her to  _ stay.  _ But when Catra ran outside, a motorcycle tried to run her over. She knocked them off the bike with a punch, then turned it 180 degrees straddling it at the same time. 

Brutal, but effective. 

So now, Catra's bike sped back towards the parking lot while Adora got stuck behind the barricades the crashed cars had formed. She groaned and got to a squatting position to blend in a tiny bit better. 

Catra was able to throw most police cars off her trail, but the car with the cat seemed to be the most persistent. Overhead, Entrapta and her wings flew to try and cut both of them off. 

Adora sat back down like normal on her motorcycle and found an alternate route. Here, she was able to get behind Catra almost immediately. She was startled when the cat hopped off her back tires and onto Catra's bike, the bike tilting all the way to the left. 

Catra used her metal arm as protection, and it scraped against the floor with a noise like nails on a chalkboard. She used her normal arm to punch the cat, sending them flying backwards as she readjusted her bike to be right side up again. 

Entrapta caught the cat in her arms, but the cat wasn't happy about it. They flung themselves out of Entrapta's arms and used the momentum to tackle Catra off of her motorcycle. 

The pair rolled in the street, and Adora leaped off her own bike to go help Catra defend herself against the masked vigilante. She wrapped her arms around the cat's middle and threw her off of Catra, but they simply landed on all fours. 

Just like a cat. 

The police sirens returned. They surrounded the four, and she knew there was no getting out of this one. She'd gone to Catra's apartment to get some answers, and now it looks like she's about to go to freaking jail. 

Even with the mask, the cat had a deadly glare. The Iron Machine landed in front of them, and Adora rolled her eyes just thinking about the earful that she's going to get from Castaspella and Glimmer later. 

Castaspella raised her charged gauntlet. "Stand down.  _ Now."  _ The woman was pissed, and she had every right to be. They pretty much just destroyed a parking lot… but why? 

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents raised their guns, and Adora put her arm in front of Catra. Like hell she'd let them shoot her. To show her peace, she attached her sword to her back, raising her hands in the air. 

They removed the cat's mask, which revealed a woman Adora had never seen before. But everyone else seemed to recognize her, judging by the numerous gasps. Castaspella went as far as to say, "Your Highness."

"Congratulations, She-Ra," Castaspella said in a disappointed tone as the four of them were forced on their knees and handcuffed. "You're a criminal."

*

"Glimmer, we need you."

Glimmer closed her computer too fast. Definitely fast enough for Spinnerella to be suspicious. "Yeah, what's up?" It's a lame attempt at being nonchalant, but something is something. 

"We've got a situation involving Adora, Entrapta, Lonnie, and the Horde Soldier. We currently have them sustained in the back of a S.H.I.E.L.D. truck for destroying a parking lot," Spinnerella smiled tightly before leaving the room. 

Goddammit, Adora. Glimmer sighed just thinking about the cleanup she'd have to do. First, the old lady won't sign the Accords, then she goes and destroys public property? What happened to the perfect princess who could do no wrong? 

She knew this whole thing would be an issue in the future. That's why she'd been doing pretty thorough research. She read the Accords over and over again, and while there were some flaws, she understood why these rules were put into place. 

It's something Adora doesn't  _ get.  _ She doesn't get how different things are now. After seventy years in the ice, she came out knowing nothing. Sometimes, Glimmer swears that girl's brain is still frozen. 

Speaking of things being frozen… Glimmer looked left and right to make sure no one was around before opening her laptop. No one else could know about her secret weapon. 

At least for now. She'd tell everyone later. Plus this is only a precaution for a worse case scenario. She pulled up the kid's files next to the YouTube video, pressing play as she studied the title with a chuckle. 

_ FROST-GIRL STOPS BUS!!! (awesome)  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got back from homecoming and wrote this in one go. It's 5 am and I can smell colors.


	4. Circle of Idiots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I finished this forever ago. But I wanted to drop it when season 4 came out, and I knew chapter 5 wouldn't be done by then. 
> 
> Sorry for withholding this chapter for an extra 2 weeks 
> 
> Happy She-Ra season 4??

Catra is seriously the only person who could laugh after her girlfriend gets beat up. 

She held Adora's fake identification at arm's distance. "Oh, you're from the Crimson Waste I see." As funny as it was, Adora could still feel the concern rolling off in ways. "You could get in serious trouble for lying on the form. Or worse, they'll take you."

Adora finally looked up from her bloody nose, and saw Catra's new uniform. The one for drafted soldiers. Her heart went to the very bottom of her toes as she asked, "Do you have your orders yet?"

Catra looked down. "I leave tomorrow at five in the morning. Sergeant Catrina Michalka ships out."

They… They were supposed to have more time… Catra wasn't supposed to leave for at least another two months. Adam and his unit were drafted only three months ago. Nothing new was supposed to go in for at  _ least  _ five months. How did-

Not only that, but  _ Adora  _ was supposed to be going with her. She tried enlisting and they said she's too short and skinny. Getting drafted didn't work because Adam was the oldest of the family. She can't sit here while innocent people were risking their lives everyday! 

"I should be going," she admitted. 

Catra laughed and shook her head, swinging her arm around her shoulders. "C'mon… It's my last night! We gotta get you cleaned up."

She rolled her eyes. "Why, where are we going?"

"The future."

Although the future wasn't as literal as it sounded, it was still pretty damn cool. The pair walked into the Fukuhara Expo while marveling at the huge globe that could be seen from miles away. 

"Welcome to the most modern you're gonna get," a voice said overhead. 

They turned to each other and laughed. Two boys were ogling them from a distance, and Catra and Adora laughed even harder. If only they knew. They passed by something called a synthetic, which they stared at for a while. 

It's for soldiers, word on the street is. If something gets bad enough, they saw off a person's arm or leg and put this new contraption on. This certain display showed an arm while also kind of hiding how bad war really gets. 

No one ever hears or talks about the gory details. How the prisoners are taken and tortured until they're left with enough damage to die on their own. Or how Beast Island and Etheria are currently making a bomb so big that it could detonate whole cities.

All while Adora can't get an enlistment… 

"Oh my…!" Catra bounced up and down when new music started playing. She grabbed Adora's hand and dragged her to where people were starting to gather. "It's starting!"

Of course, she knew what  _ it  _ was. No one could shut up about it since Fukhara Industries talked about its existence. Catra would go on and on about how helpful this could be for the war if it were ready.

They stopped when they reached a stage. Just in time as a woman in a skimpy red, white, and blue uniform introduced, "Ladies and gentleman, Micah Fukuhara!"

The man with the mustache stepped onto the stage with great ease. He raised his arms as the applause continued and took the microphone from one of the women. The girls left the stage, the man going solo. 

He took a handkerchief and wiped his nose when the applause died down. "Ladies and gentlemen! What if I told you that I could make your automobiles not touch the ground anymore?"

Catra peaked at this moment. She grasped Adora's shoulder in an excited manner, jumping up and down as more women took off the red cover on a car. 

Four assistants came and took the tires off of the bright yellow car. For as advanced as the car supposedly is, it still had the same model as what is driven on the street. Hmm. 

"With the type of technology that's used in this, I bet we'll be able to use these to beat those Germans. We won't even have to do anything illegal!" Micah clapped his hands as the assistants moved off stage. 

He walked over to some control panels and did some cool Fukuhara mumbo jumbo, pressing buttons and all that cool stuff. Adora wondered what it would be like to work with the coolest man alive. To always be around greatness like that. 

See, that's something about her that she wishes she could stop. She has hero worship for almost everyone. She's an artist whose constantly told she's not good enough to fight a war. Everyone around her is being sent off to fight, so she can't exactly control how she sees other people. 

The car slowly started to lift off the ground, emitting a gasp from everyone in the audience. Michal also seemed just as surprised as everyone else that his project is working the way it's supposed to. 

Catra, on the other side of her, slapped her arm as she jumped from foot to foot. She clapped her hands, stuck in her own little world and doesn't seem to be getting out. Not that anyone's complaining. It's adorable. 

Almost as soon as the car levitated, however, the yellow vehicle slammed back into the ground. Adora looked to Catra with an 'I told you so' look. As sad as it was to see the creation flop, she still clapped politely. 

"Guess we're going to be using those little jeeps for a little while longer," Micha joked before anyone could say anything negative. There was going to be more for the presentation, but Catra pulled her away. 

The one who was super excited to see Mr. Micha Fukuhara leaves early? 

Unexpected. 

"I just noticed that they're selling ice cream at a booth across from here," Catra explained excitedly. "But get this: they made it with something called liquid nitrogen so you make a cloud every time you take a bite!"

Now, neither of them knew jack shit about actual science. But they found the facts that they could understand the most intriguing. If they tried a little harder, they'd understand more complicated stuff for sure. It's much more fun to spend your time on other, well…  _ things _ rather than trying to learn. 

"C'mon!" Catra pulled her arm as they made their way to the makeshift ice cream. As much as Adora didn't want to ruin the fun, she glanced at the clock and noticed it was already ten, and Catra was leaving in the morning. 

"Hey…" Adora tugged on Catra's uniform sleeve. "Have you seen the time yet?"

Catra glared at the clock. "No, and I wish I hadn't. Let's grab a bite then head back to your place."

She agreed, but only because her girlfriend had already made her way to the kiosk to order for the both of them. The workers showed them how they made the ice cream which, in her book, is more impressive than flying cars any day. 

Catra walked back over to her with two cups of ice cream that were smoking. "Look at how crazy this thing is!" She laughed, handing the chocolate one to Adora. 

The elephant was still very clear in the room. They couldn't exactly ignore how Catra has to leave very soon. Sooner than she should. The ice cream didn't sit right in her stomach as they walked into Adora's house; the very lonely house now. 

"Hey…" Catra flopped herself on Adora's bed, taking off her uniform so she stayed in a simple white button up and brown pants. "What's wrong?"

"I just…" She sighed, curling up and pressing her chest to Catra's back, her white dress digging into the soft skin. "I just can't believe how bullshit this is."

It's stupid. It's absurd that the government would choose to send in their newest draft so soon. They usually wait and they didn't. As messed up as things are in Beast Island, there are still plenty of flaws that Etheria could change. 

It seems like everything is working against Adora. Her dad died after being drafted, then her mother suffers a heart attack. Adam enlisted next, and now Catra. Now Catra because she's the oldest in her household that's still in a healthy condition. 

"I know." Catra cozied into the hold, smiling as she ignored their problems. "But we don't have to worry about that right now. We have each other, right? As long as we stay together, nothing really bad can happen."

"But that's the thing!" Adora pressed her face into Catra's neck. "We aren't going to be together, and I'm going to be stuck here waiting for you like a wife waiting for her husband. How are we going to get through this?"

Catra turned around so she was facing Adora. "I'll come back for you, and only you. I'm making it back alive. Go to sleep, and we'll talk in the morning."

Naturally, Adora fell asleep right away. 

When she woke up, Catra was poking her dressed in her uniform. "I have to go…"

Adora sat straight up, tugging Catra towards her. The deadline seemed way too close now. "Wait, no. No, please. Not yet."

Catra shook her head. "I'm sorry. You'll see me soon." She pressed a kiss to Adora's forehead, her cheek, her neck, and finally her lips. "Please don't do anything stupid until I get back."

Adora laughed with tears in her eyes. She understood that meant no more lying to get enlisted. "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

"You punk."

"Jerk." She swiped at her eyes frantically. "Be careful. I'm begging you. And you're not allowed to win the war until I get there."

Catra giggled as she used her thumb to wipe both of their tears. She shook her head as the couple embraced one last time. "Goodby- I'll see you later…" They shared a final kiss before she finally walked to the door, looking back once before turning around and walking out. 

Adora turned her head into her pillow and sobbed. Life is just that messed up, huh? 

At least Adam has visiting day soon… 

-

How did Adora not realize that was going to be the last time she saw Catra as  _ normal _ before Hordak got to her? 

The four of them had been escorted to some sort of facility. At least they weren't handcuffed anymore. Catra was taken somewhere else to be interrogated, and that's probably what scared her the most; not knowing Catra's whereabouts. 

"When I said not to make things worse," Spinnerella started as she appeared next to her. "This is the exact opposite of what I meant."

"She's alive, Spinn." 

Adora doesn't understand why that's so hard for everyone to understand. Catra isn't that far gone. Sure, she probably still has some Hydra left in her. But she was somehow able to break out of that cycle of mind control. 

The guards separated Lonnie from her and Entrapta. Spinnerella opened a door for them, and she rolled her eyes when she saw Glimmer already waiting for them. 

"We've got people on clean up," Glimmer informed Spinnerella. 

"Good. Tell this one not to break anything while we fix this." She cocked her head at Adora. "I'll be on my way. Deal with their consequences."

As annoyed as Spinnerella seems, Adora only caught one word from that statement. "Consequences?"

"Yeah!" Glimmer yelled sarcastically. "Your actions actually have consequences. Shadow Weaver wants you both persecuted. I had to give her something. Good job, She-Ra."

"Hmm," was her only reply. "No chance I'm getting that sword back anytime soon, then."

Spinnerella shook her head. "It's the government's property now. Wings too."

"That's cold," Entrapta replied, following Spinnerella as they made their way out of the room. 

"Warmer than jail," Glimmer shouted after them. "So you're welcome." 

Adora stared at the security cameras lining the walls. She searched all of them, and still couldn't find where Shadow Weaver was interrogating Catra. Where in the world were either of them? 

"Wanna see something cool?" Glimmer beckoned her over. "I got something from my  _ dad's  _ old archives!" She pulled out a black rectangle thing from her grey blazer. "Seems… timely."

The rectangle ended up being a fountain pen case, which Glimmer held out for Adora. Adora sat down to listen to whatever bullshit Glimmer was going to sprout now. "At least, it is if you're from the forties."

Adora disagreed with using dead people to better an argument. "Some would say those times are what bring our country closer to war."

Glimmer stayed silent for a second, not missing a beat. She didn't hesitate when she said, "Well, if not for that, you wouldn't even be here."

Yeah, and neither would the majority of things out there today, but she wasn't petty enough to bring that up. She  _ was  _ the first Princess, and S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded for the war. None of this would be here if it weren't for the war, and that's where Glimmer's point is  _ wrong.  _

Glimmer leaned against the table and narrowed her eyes. "Listen, Adora. I'm trying to - what do you call it - it's an olive branch... No, that's not it-"

"Is Rogelio here?" Adora interrupted. "I haven't seen him at all."

"He's running around here somewhere," Glimmer confirmed as she sat down. "I don't know where he is or exactly whose orders he's following right now. He's somewhere in the facility and I believe that's all you need to know."

Ah, yes. Because Iron Lady knows everything and sees all. She may have your best interest at heart, but you will never be bigger than her ego. There's nothing in the world that's bigger than that. 

"Did you know my aunt was actually mad at me before this whole Accords thing started?" Glimmer stood up again, too impatient to stand. "I almost lost what little family I had left two years ago, and I trashed all my suits afterwards. Then my mom died, and Castaspella was upset at someone, and I'd rather it be me than anyone else. My fault. I dunno… I guess I thought the Accords would set everything straight."

Now that's an unfair tactic to use against her. The most important thing to Adora is the safety and well-being of others around her. Everyone knows that to take her out, you have to go for the heart. And Glimmer used that in her favor. 

But damn it, if it didn't work… 

"Glimmer, I-"

"Zip it paleta, my turn," Glimmer continued. "In the defense of literally everyone in my life, I am a handful. You know, I get it from my dad. He could be a pain in the ass sometimes. But my mom always calmed him down when experiments and stuff didn't turn out the way he wanted."

She wasn't going to zip it because she has something valuable to add to this to defuse the situation. "I actually am glad that Micah got married. I only knew the young and single bachelor."

Apparently it did not diffuse anything. It got Glimmer in a more defensive state. "Oh! You guys knew each other! My parents only mentioned it a couple thousand times! I used to hate you even!"

Adora looked up from her spot on the table. This is a level of opening up that Glimmer never does around anyone. It may sound like a joke to the naked ear, but she's fluent in Over Dramatic and/or Over Sad Iron Lady Drama. 

This is an over sad moment. "I didn't mean to make things difficult."

Glimmer rolled her eyes. "We know. We know just how polite you are."

Why is this girl the way she is? "If I see something happening and it's going south, you know I just can't ignore it any longer." She knows what the other girl wants to hear. "Sometimes I wish I could."

"No you don't."

"...no, I don't. Sometimes…"

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth." Oh? "But I can't see the Princesses without you. We need She-Ra. No, we need Adora Carrero. What's already happened can't be undone, but we can fix the last twenty four hours if you sign."

Because she's actually a clown, Adora picked up the pen from its case and fidgeted with it to show that she shows some kind of interest in signing. 

Glimmer watched her movements carefully. "We're well aware of Hydra and the mind control. Catra would be transferred to an Etherian psych ward instead of a prison in Mystacore."

There. 

There it was. She went for the heart. That  _ is  _ her very heart. Adora stood and faced Glimmer, looking away once they made eye contact. The situation had been manipulated so well that she knows she isn't leaving this room without signing those papers. 

"I'm not saying it's impossible…" She spoke of Catra's ward. "But there'd have to be safe guards."

"Of course," Glimmer agreed. "Once the purifier is out there, we can amend these documents. I'd file a motion so you and Perfuma can be reinstated."

This peaked her interests yet again. "Perfuma? Wait, what about Perfuma?"

"Oh, she's fine," Glimmer reassured, sitting down. "We've got her completely safe in the compound. Scorpia is keeping her company."

So they've basically locked the poor girl in her room so she couldn't be arrested? Why would these stupid papers have a law for her to be arrested anyways? 

"God, Glimmer!" Adora rolled her eyes as she walked to the other side of the table. "Every single time I think you've actually done something  _ good-" _

"It's a multi-billion dollar compound with a screening room and a human Google. Trust me, there are worse ways to protect a person."

"Protection!?" She shouted, turning around to face Glimmer.  _ "That's  _ how you see this? No, this is confinement!"

"She's not an Etherian citizen, she's from Plumeria! We can't get a visa-"

"Oh, come  _ on!" _

"-for potential weapons of mass destruction!"

"She's a kid!"

Glimmer slammed her hands on the table, finally snapping. "Give me a break! I've been cleaning up  _ your  _ mess already! I'm doing what has to be done to make sure something worse doesn't happen!"

Adora shook her head at the half baked excuse. "You keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night." She set the pen back down on the table with a pretty hard toss, not caring that it was Micah's. "Hate to break it, but I'm not signing."

She walked around in a haste to find where Rogelio was. If anyone could get her close to that interrogation room, it was him. She had to sneak around because no doubt word of her resistance was already out, but him and Entrapta were actually the ones to find  _ her. _

Entrapta pulled her by the arm into whatever room they were hiding in. Rogelio waved at her in greeting and said, "I got the live security camera footage of Catra's interrogation. I thought you might want to see it. It's just about to start."

"Hello," Shadow Weaver greeted Catra. "I have been sent to evaluate you." Funny, evaluate seems like a fancy word for criminal interrogation. "Do you mind if I sit?"

Catra didn't answer. She looked up at the ceiling as she was strapped into her chair. Shadow Weaver sat down without permission. Now, let's see what else the bitch does without permission. 

"Your first name is Catrina?"

Rogelio handed Entrapta a piece of paper. "Here's the receipt for your gear." Why the hell does Entrapta need a receipt for her wings? It's not like anyone is outside this window, flying around in what's now government property. 

"Bird costume?" The inventor shrieked. 

Rogelio raised his arms in defense. "Hey, I didn't write it."

Adora tuned out the rest of the conversation afterwards. Rogelio checked the door and pressed some sort of button, and all of the camera feeds were changed to the one inside of the interrogation room. Bless Rogelio for a thousand years. 

"I'm not going to judge you, Ms. Michalka." Yeah, as if Shadow Weaver doesn't judge everyone she meets. "I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, Catrina?"

A movement outside the door caught her eye, but she ignored it when Shadow Weaver continued. "I can't help you if you don't answer me, Catrina."

Catra snarled. "That's not my name. My name is Catra."

Adora's heart might as well have leaped out of her chest. Now she knows for sure that some of Catra is still in there. She'd been unknowingly reassuring everyone by simply hoping for the best. Now this - this has her over the moon. She bit her lip to stop any premature celebrating.

Shadow Weaver had a photo with her; the one that had been released to the public on the news. Of course she carried it around on her person. She has nothing better to do than frame mostly innocent people for something they likely didn't do. 

Adora sighed. "Why did they release the picture and video in the first place?"

Rogelio shrugged helplessly. "They wanted to get the word out and involve as many people as they could. Get more eyes for their wild goose chase."

"Right. Perfect way to get a girl out of hiding. You supposedly set off a bomb then stop to get your picture taken. Shadow Weaver has seven billion people looking for the Horde Soldier." 

The lonely mattress and apartment came back into her mind. The way it'd been set up for best defense in case of an attack. But that notebook suggested that Catra had at least thought about Adora and She-Ra in some sort of manner. 

"So what I'm hearing is…" Rogelio glanced out the door one more time. "Someone framed her to find her?"

"Adora," Entrapta called out. "We looked for this girl for two months and found nothing."

_ "We  _ didn't bomb the U.N. and turn a lot of heads," Adora pointed out. "Plus, it was only two months and I got caught up with the portal in Sokovia. We didn't look as long and hard as we could've."

"But whoever framed her didn't guarantee that they would get her.." Rogelio snapped his head up all of a sudden. "It guarantees that we would."

They all turned back around to the interrogation that had become a dull background sound. The three of them leaned against the table. Adora was still riled up from her argument with Glimmer, and she was not about to have someone break into this facility. 

"Tell me, Catra," Shadow Weaver continued. "You've seen a lot of things, haven't you?"

Catra tore her head away from the ceiling to look at the ground. "I don't want to talk about that."

"Are you in fear that once you talk about it, the memories might not stop?"

Adora didn't like how persistent Shadow Weaver was on talking about Catra's past. It's been made more than clear that she's the only one in that room with an interest in that subject. 

"Well, don't worry," Shadow Weaver smirked. "I only want to talk about one memory."

Adora leaned forward even more as she listened to whatever this lady had to say next. Something about her tone and all around vibe with that last statement rubbed her the wrong way. Then again,  _ everything  _ about Shadow Weaver left a disgusting taste in her mouth. 

At least, her plan  _ was  _ to keep a close look out. But the security camera feed was the first to turn off, then all the lights. She turned to Rogelio in a panic to see if this was normal, but he seemed just as confused about it. Entrapta jumped up from her seat to stand with them. 

Red lights flashed throughout the room. Rogelio peeked his head outside, and they could see all of the blinking lights in the hallway. This was either the most convenient or inconvenient power outage of all time. 

If she knew anything about evil plans, she's going with the former. 

Rogelio closed his eyes for a second before saying, "She's in sub level five. East wing."

Adora grabbed Entrapta by the wrist, nodding to Rogelio in thanks before the duo took off. They passed Lonnie on their way out who turned to watch them leave, but they couldn't have been bothered to worry about that right now. 

They went down a corridor and saw Spinnerella running towards them. They backed themselves into a wall and went the other direction, opting to take the longer route than be caught and arrested at a time like this. 

Catra could be in trouble. 

Adora didn't struggle breaking down the door of the interrogation room, which should've been the first warning sign. The second was when Entrapta barely had enough time to duck because Catra was throwing punches at her, instead hitting the wall behind the inventor as Shadow Weaver watched in marvel. 

Catra grasped Entrapta by the arm and threw her into her own interrogation case where she'd been strapped in. Adora noticed Shadow Weaver trying to make a run for it, and she grabbed the secretary of the freaking country by the neck and pressed her against the wall. 

Surprisingly, as soon as Entrapta had been thrown, Catra changed her aim and started throwing punches at Adora. She scratched Adora's back, tearing open the skin as blood dripped down her back. She let go of Shadow Weaver in shock and pain, and she knew she had no other option but to fight back. 

Catra had backed her into a whole other room. She kicked her abdomen, sending her flying to the ground in a winded state. She got up as soon as she could since Catra started attacking immediately again, and the most she could do was go on the defense and block all the punches. 

She backed up all the way into some sort of elevator door. The scratches burned at the contact with the cool metal. Catra thrust her metal fist, and Adora raised her arm to catch the flying arm. She struggled and kept it from crashing into her chest, but she could only hold up for so long. 

When she pressed the fist into Catra, the soldier used that power and catapulted her into the elevator door. She fell through and hit the elevator shaft, and she groaned through her teeth. Her back cried with agony, but her heart dropped when she realized Catra had stayed up there. 

How- just how? How the hell is this the same person who had been asked to be called Catra now furiously attacking everyone she comes in contact with? 

She slowly got to her feet, but she knew the faster she figured things out, the faster she could get Catra's innocence proven. But so far, things don't seem to be looking in their favor. At least legal wise. 

Her white shirt would be hideously ruined and dirty after this, plus stained with blood, but so be it. She grasped the elevator wires with her hands and started pulling herself up with all her upper body strength. It hurt her arms like a bitch, but she has somewhere to be. 

She could only imagine what it's like up above. Everyone is probably trying to shoot Catra on sight while Glimmer or Spinnerella attempt to calm everyone down. But because of these new laws, they wouldn't even be able to act on this situation. 

Lonnie's likely up there with them. Even though Adora had almost zero clue who this newcomer is, she did know that they aren't giving up their revenge story. That, and the girl is royalty in a black cat suit. 

She passed the hole where she came from and continued on until she reached the top roof of the elevator shaft. She kicked open the trapdoor, and she arrived at the rooftop. 

Just in time; Catra was boarding a helicopter. 

This all seems too unreal. Why would Catra do something like this? Why steal a helicopter? Something isn't adding up, and she's made it her new goal to figure out what's going on. 

She sprinted to the helicopter as it started to lift in the air. She hopped and grabbed hold of the landing skids, bringing the copter a little further down. Her feet skidded as she tried her hardest to stop it, but it continued to keep going. 

Adora grabbed onto a random yellow bar in her last resort. She crouched as she held onto a whole helicopter and yellow pole. Her arms burned, and she wanted to let go  _ so  _ badly. 

But she saw Catra's heartbroken and blank stare from inside of the helicopter, and she knew she had to do something to fix this. Tears pricked at her own eyes as her heart went out for Catra, her She-Ra muscles also crying. 

Catra's facial features changed, and she heard someone shout, "Watch out!" But it'd been way too late when they finally realized what Catra was doing. The helicopter was crashing into the landing pad before they knew it. 

The tall rotor quite literally almost chopped her in half, and she had to duck and roll to avoid being taken out by the tail. She swiped at her eyes in order to squint for Catra through all this weird smoke. 

But the helicopter landed on its side. She'd gone to the cockpit's window first. Before she could even call out its position, a metal arm came flying out of the glass and wrapped around her neck. Damn, it's always the neck. 

It's hard to actually like choking when she's always being choked by people. 

Her airway was completely cut off. Catra wasn't looking to harm; she was looking to kill. Adora pressed her hands against the helicopter and tried pushing off. Her eyes watered again with her need to breathe. 

This can't be how she goes. She refuses to die by being choked to death by her suddenly crazy ex girlfriend. No, this isn't going to be how that works.

Turns out, there's a drowning hazard too! She pushed the helicopter too much, and it tipped over the edge of the landing pod and landed in the body of water below. When they landed, Catra had let go of her, but water filled her lungs instead of sweet, sweet air.

She then heard muffled pounding. She turned her head and saw Catra break the window, then suddenly go limp. So the super soldier part of her has some limitations. 

Adora grabbed her waist and brought them both back to the surface. She gasped when she was finally able to breathe, yet concerned when Catra lay motionless against her. 

For now, they've all got to get to a secure location because everyone probably thinks she did the power outage so they could escape. She began to swim away from the facility. They'll figure something out in a bit. Catra pulled her out of that river and did her best to nurse Adora back to health. 

It's time to return the favor. 

*

Adora's attention was grabbed by Catra's groaning as the girl woke up. 

Entrapta was cleaning her back with a towel as she straddled a chair, but their attention was redirected to the metal cube they had put on top of Catra's metal arm. They didn't know how well it would hold, but by god if they prayed that it did something. They saw her weak attempt to get free, but nothing happened. 

A search helicopter flew above the random warehouse they occupied. They kept in the dark corners of the building. As long as no one made a scene, they would be fine to continue on. 

She was struck by how defeated Catra looked. The super soldier had bags below her eyes that Adora hadn't noticed before. Her wild and frantic expression was very different from her calm body language. Adora grabbed her ripped, white shirt from the ground and put it back on. 

"Adora?" Catra questioned, squinting at her. 

Adora got off the chair and stepped forward a step, but Entrapta kept her grounded with a hand on the shoulder, reminding her of the dangers. "Which Catra am I talking to?"

Catra replied, "Your brother's name was Adam, but you called him He-Man for a nickname." She chuckled as if remembering a funny memory. "You put newspapers in your shoes one time because I went on a date with a tall guy once."

She smiled too, recalling the moment. It wasn't funny when it happened, but looking back on it and realizing they both liked girls all along was pretty hilarious. She continued her path and crouched down in front of Catra, holding back tears as the past came flooding back. "You didn't read that one in a museum."

Entrapta scoffed. "Wait. Just that and we trust her all of a sudden?"

Her eyes prickled with unshed tears, and she couldn't say anything in fear of actually crying. Instead, Catra took the reigns. "What did I do?"

"Enough to put the entire Princess team on a lookout for you."

She practically felt the burn on her back from the scratches. Catra groaned at Entrapta's harsh words. "Oh god… I knew this was going to happen. Hydra is still inside of me. Everything they did to me… all that lady had to do was say the goddamn trigger words."

So  _ that's  _ what turned her back into the Horde Soldier? 

"Was it Shadow Weaver?"

"I- I don't know."

"Catra, people are hurt. Maybe dead." She wanted to be patient. She really did. But she's got a back torn open and a very angry Glimmer on her hands. She needs answers. "The bomb and setting you up was just so Shadow Weaver could have ten minutes with you. Look, I need to know everything that you know."

"She…" Catra's eyes wandered, but eventually returned to Adora's face. "She wanted to know about something in the Crimson Waste… where they kept me. She wanted to know the exact location."

Doesn't Shadow Weaver already have access to this information? Maybe the woman wasn't as clear as they thought. "Why would she want to know that?"

"Because I'm not the only Horde Soldier."

Adora glanced at Entrapta, and they both had equally terrified faces on. November was difficult enough with just  _ one  _ Horde Soldier. How are they supposed to handle multiple? And why did Shadow Weaver need to know all of this? 

"I need to tell you the truth.." Catra looked down, not facing them. "December… It wasn't a car crash that killed Angella. It was  _ me.  _ I didn't want to, but it was my last mission before I left. Her and Micah died because of me and because of whatever the  _ fuck  _ Hydra put in my head!"

Adora's heart dropped to the bottom of her toes. Her dread was shared with Entrapta. They thought they were in trouble before, but now they know they're really screwed. The man who'd mentored her so long ago and the woman she admired as both a leader and mother had been murdered by the girl she fell in love with. 

What a fucking peachy situation. 

There's one thing for sure. She can't tell Glimmer. That'll only sign off Catra's death warrant, and if it really was the work of Hydra's brainwashing, then they had to come up with another solution. 

She locked eyes with Entrapta, and they both got the same message:  _ Glimmer never finds out.  _

"I killed Micah because he had the super soldier recipe, essentially. Hydra experimented on me when my unit got captured. That helped me survive the fall from the train. Then they brainwashed me and made me kill an innocent man with a baby, and I took the super soldier equations. Hydra just edited it so it can only be activated by certain words. They took my arm along with my life for over seventy years."

This whole thing became too heavy for her heart. She couldn't imagine Catra murdering Glimmer's parents in cold blood. Not only that, but was then tortured up until a month ago. 

"They made others like me. There were six of us. But I was the original, and to them, I was the greatest. I even had extra strength in the arm. They forced us to fight. We hurt each other. We never wanted to, but Hydra was too strong for-"

"Who were they?" Adora interrupted, leaning against a wall gently. By Catra's tone, she obviously felt guilty. She didn't need to see a scratched up back right now. 

"The elitist. We have more kills than anyone in Hydra history. They called us Horde Prime."

"Did they… Did they  _ all  _ turn out like you?" Entrapta asked warily. But they all knew the true question. 

_ Have they all escaped Horde Prime?  _

Catra shook her head. "Worse."

If they're worse, then… "Could Shadow Weaver control them?"

She nodded her head. "Enough. Horde Prime is dangerous. These people can speak over thirty languages. They can hide in plain sight just like I have. They can assassinate anyone they'd want to. They could take a whole country down in one night and you'd never even know it was them."

Right now, she's just thinking about how this all could've been a thousand times easier about a week ago. Because even if they did call Glimmer, the Accords may not let her help on their quest to stop Shadow Weaver. 

"We're on our own here…" Adora said. 

"Not quite," Entrapta winked. "I might know a guy. A very, very small guy…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished season 4 at 5 am and yeah it's a fucking trip 
> 
> And now I really wish season 3 had come out before I started this series. Instead of Hydra, it'd be called Horde Prime. 
> 
> And 🚨spoiler🚨since Mara actually isn't a secret villain, I feel bad for that now :/
> 
> But yay for Catra tho :)


	5. There's No I In Justice League

Glimmer observed the homely apartment with interest. 

She's had her secret weapon for a while now. But no one knew about it. She didn't think she'd need to use it. But Shadow Weaver gave her an assignment through the Accords to bring in Adora in thirty-six hours. 

So yeah, she needed a little bit of extra help. 

"Date loaf?" Razz asked her. 

Glimmer nodded in politeness and grabbed a piece of bread off of the plate. She studied the family pictures with sadness. She can't remember the last time she took a photo with her mom  _ and  _ dad. 

"Frosta should be getting home any minute now," Razz informed. "Before she gets here, I would like to know exactly everything about this scholarship you're offering, and why my niece may be going on this, uh,  _ retreat?" _

The rehearsed lines came easily. "The Pursue and Prosper Grant was supposed to only be for college students, but your niece blew me away with her application that she has got to go on the retreat for Fukuhara Industries."

Razz scratched at her head. "Then what happens?"

"I select only the best for the actual internship. I believe that Frosta has the potential to become my intern, which is saying a lot because I don't hire interns. But if she tries hard enough, then I know she can make it."

"So… Does she have to miss school?"

Glimmer winced. She forgot about this part. "Since it's a college level job, I scheduled it on Wednesday through Friday because, statistically, most students have classes on Mondays. But, since Frosta is still in high school, I really need your permission. The main reason I came in person was to discuss me taking her out of school."

Razz nodded. "I mean, if Glimmer Fukuhara is saying my niece has a chance at beating college students at a huge job, then hell yeah, I'm going to let her go. It's just weird that Frosta never told me about this." They laughed, but Glimmer found little humor in the situation. 

Not only is she lying to some poor girl's aunt, the poor girl isn't old enough to even have a driver's permit. There's an underlying guilt that came along with it. She got the feeling in her chest everytime someone new joined the Princesses. 

But Frosta was already doing the superhero thing on her own. Glimmer would simply be giving her safer means. A new suit, constant supervision, and an AI for whenever she got overwhelmed and needed someone else to talk to that wasn't an adult. 

At least that's what she told herself. She couldn't bear to believe that she was putting a fourteen year old kid in serious danger. Well, she was setting up a team to fight a rogue She-Ra, so maybe this is a little dangerous… 

Oh, what the heck is she saying. Adora has the Horde Soldier, a mad scientist, and probably others at her side. But as long as Perfuma and Scorpia stay put, then nothing should get too out of hand. The only problem would be getting them two involved. 

She has an alert set on her watch. A whole new combination of vibrations would tell her if Perfuma left. She knew Scorpia would get too restless to stay put for so long, but at least the encyclopedia would stay safe. 

A buzz vibrated her wrist, but she knew it was only Shadow Weaver. The woman was probably telling her about which specific airport that Adora and her gang of clowns would be using. If she wasn't getting a phone call, then it can't have been too important. 

"I hope you don't mind me asking…" Glimmer poked at her fingernails. "I don't know if you've seen the news, but there's an issue regarding the Horde Soldier and She-Ra. See, I'm dealing with them  _ and  _ this whole internship thing. Do you know when Frosta should be getting home?"

Razz opened her mouth to speak, but the door to the apartment creaked, and they both stayed quiet. They hoped that it's Frosta arriving home and not Catra discovering her location and murdering them in cold blood. 

"Hey, Razz," a preteen voice called out. 

Razz's eyes widened in surprise, and they both turned around to face the other side of the couch. "Hey! How was school today?"

"Okay… There's a super crazy expensive car parked outside, by the way. I wonder who's it…" 

The girl walked into their field of vision. A short preteen with bobbed blue hair and bangs that were probably cut at around three am due to a mental breakdown (Glimmer's been there) stopped in her tracks. She gripped a blue and white marching band letterman jacket apprehensive in her hands. 

From her research, she knew the girl did marching band at her school, despite her new abilities. Why not play volleyball or something when she definitely has the means to? 

She slowly took her headphones out of her ears and she registered who was in the room. "Hello, Ms. Frosta," Glimmer greeted, nodding politely in greeting. 

"Uh…" Frosta crossed and uncrossed her arms, opting to leave them at her side. "What.. What are you… Hi! I-I'm Frosta-"

Glimmer remembered the very first time she saw a picture of her dad with She-Ra. She'd been so starstruck as a kid by the fact that her parents knew somebody so famous. But then the stories got old, and she soon got tired of hearing about the great and magnificent Adora Carrero. 

It's all bullshit now. 

She suspected the same would happen with this young lady. She's planning to mentor Frosta on being safe and what to do in case of an emergency. The hero worship thing only sticks around for so long before the rebellious part of a teenager comes out. 

"Glimmer," she smiled in another greeting. 

"What are you, wha- what are you doing here?" Frosta tried her best to brush the bangs from her face. Her pale skin actually matched the dyed blue hair, and her matching blue eyes actually felt like ice. 

Then again, the girl  _ can  _ burst ice out of her hands and can make her fingertips so cold she sticks to walls, but it's funny to laugh at the shy and quirky teenage girl trying not to embarrass herself. 

"I thought that we should finally meet. You've been getting my emails, right?" She winked with the eye away from Razz, hoping that the girl would understand the context clues. 

Luckily, Frosta nodded and faced her aunt. "Yeah, yeah, totally. The emails about the-"

Before whatever lie was going to come out of her mouth, Razz interrupted her. "You didn't tell me about the grant."

"The grant! Yeah, the…"

"The Pursue and Prosper Grant," Glimmer spoke in. "Remember… when you applied for that." 

"Yeah, yeah."

"I approved!" Glimmer raised a cup of water to her lips. "We're in business now."

"You didn't tell me any of this," Razz smiled sarcastically at her niece. "I didn't know we were keeping secrets from each other now."

"It wasn't a secret!" Frosta shouted, her vain attempts at getting herself out of this mess only a little funny. "But I know how much you like surprises. So, so… Surprise! I applied for the grant!"

"I'm here to hash out some details," Glimmer reminded. 

"Yeah, yeah. Hashing out details, yeah…"

"Can I have five minutes with her?" Glimmer asked. 

"Sure, go ahead," Razz nodded. 

Glimmer stood from the couch, and allowed Frosta to lead her somewhere else in the house. Bless this girl's ability to read the room and know when and where a conversation needs to take place. 

The room was quickly recognized as a bedroom. The bed with the white comforters, glasses that lay askew on the carpet floor, an AP US History textbook open on the desk, and a Decathlon poster hanging on the closet door. 

In order to get a little fear pumping in Frosta (for good measure), Glimmer closed the door and turned the lock, closing themselves off from Razz and whoever else might feel the need to barge into the room. 

"Ms. Fukuhara," Frosta started. "I definitely didn't apply for your grant. I mean, I would've if I could but it's for college only. I'm not in college, in case you've noticed. I'm still a sophomore. Just.. yeah."

Glimmer nodded her head, not having paid attention to whatever Frosta just said. "Quick question to something I already have the answer to." She pulled her phone out and displayed the video footage of Frost-Girl stopping a bus by freezing the front of it. "That's you, isn't it?"

Frosta's stance changed, and she crossed her arms defensively. "What? No, that's crazy. It's not me."

"Yeah… It is." In the video, Frost-Girl caught the frozen bus right before it crashed into a cafe. "Look at you go. A bus like that probably weighs around five hundred pounds. You've got mad skills."

"But it's all on YouTube. That's where you found it, right?" It was almost believable except for the fact that she wore a huge smile on her face from the compliment. How this girl keeps a secret identity is a mystery. "I have a lot of free time at two am. I edit everything."

She looked around the room for the place to secretly hide a suit. She snatched the yardstick that was measuring something for what looked like woodshop. Ah, high school. She listened to Frosta's rambling about internet safety, and her eye twitched when she noticed a loose panel in the ceiling tiles. 

"Yeah, yeah, totally," Glimmer agreed. She pried the tile open with the yardstick, a blue and white suit attached to a string came crashing down. Frosta caught it before it hit the ground, and she shoved it as far back into her closet as she could. 

Frosta whipped around to face her with a horrified expression. "Uh… It's for a… A project."

"So you're the icy girl. The crime fighting icicle."

"Fro- Frost-Girl." 

She tried to get another peek at the homemade suit, but it was too far back. It's absolutely dreadful, anyways. She plopped down in a rolling office chair, staring at the closet. "Not in that onesie, at least."

Frosta suddenly got defensive, shoulders tensing as she took a couple steps away from the closet. "It's not a onesie! This sucks, you know?" 

Glimmer widened her eyes in surprise, but Frosta continued talking. "I was having a really good day today, Ms.Fukuhara. I didn't miss my train, and that was great. We had a test in Spanish and the only thing I didn't know was vosotros. My chemistry quiz on the atomic theory timeline was super easy, and I aced that thing."

She ignored the little rant for something important. "Does anyone else know? Anyone at all?"

Frosta shook her head. "Nobody."

"Not even your unusually observant and pretty down to earth aunt?"

"No, no, no! Especially not her. If she knew, she would flip out and when she flips out it's because she's freaking out and when she freaks out.. I freak out."

Glimmer saw a broken shard of ice on the floor. After a bit of research (aka grainy YouTube videos), she knew the ice came directly out of her hands. "I think that this ice is so cool." She threw the ice at the girl, who didn't even have to look to catch it immediately. 

"Your strength and reflexes are insane."

Frosta nodded, eyes glazed. She was clearly thinking about something else as she threw the ice shard into the closet. She stepped closer to the billionaire, taking in the sight of Glimmer going to grab the suit out of the closet and studying it closer. 

"The sticking to walls isn't just adhesive gloves, is it?" Glimmer noticed that the gloves on the suit was a pretty thin mesh. Enough to cover any fingerprints, but thin enough to frost the palm of the hand and still affect everything else. 

Then she realized how goddamn thick the goggles are. She raised them to her own eyes and everything fell dark. "Jesus, can you even see in these?"

_ "Yes,  _ I can see."

"Woah, I'm blind!"

Frosta snatched the suit from her hands again and threw it back into the closet. "Yes, I can see in this. Whenever whatever happened happened to me, all of my senses were heightened. There's so much going on, and I made this suit so only someone enhanced could use it. They also help me keep focus with the tint."

"You, ma'am, are a whole different breed. That's why I'm here." Frosta sat across from her in the bed. "Why are you doing this? What's your motivation?"

The girl played with her hands. "Because… I've been the person I am my whole life. I've had these powers for six months. I like to take AP classes and build stuff. Yeah, I'd love to be a cheerleader and lift the girls, but I couldn't then. So why should I now?"

"Because you're different."

"Exactly. I can't tell anyone about these powers, so I disengage. Marching band doesn't need anything special." She sighed, and a haunted expression took over. "When you can do the things that I can, and you don't… and then bad things happen… They happen because of you."

Glimmer understood that perfectly. She's a billionaire genius who made a suit for everyone she knew; except her mother. It turned out her mom was the one that needed it the most. "So you do your part. Make the world a better place, yeah."

"Just looking out for the little guy, yeah." 

She stood and sat next to Frosta, putting a consoling hand on the girl's shoulder. "Do you have a passport?"

Frosta shook her head. "No. Me and Razz don't travel anymore-"

"Have you ever been to Germany?"

"...no."

"Oh! Trust me, you'll love it. We're gonna go fight a freezer." She knew it was wrong, and the poor girl didn't even have a passport. But she needed something,  _ someone,  _ to use against Adora. A secret enhanced ice thing is perfect. 

"Wait, no. I can't go to Germany. I have homework! I'm fourteen! 

Glimmer took a second to process that. "Hi fourteen, let's go to Germany and I'm going to pretend you didn't just tell me that." She stood up again, heading closer to the door. 

"I'm being serious! I'm not going to drop out of school, I have a field show next Saturday."

Right, marching band. Well, she'll be back by then. "It'll be kind of dangerous. I mean, She-Ra  _ has  _ gone kind of crazy-"

"Did you say  _ She-Ra?" _

"-and I'll have to tell your aunt that I'm taking you." She put her hand on the doorknob, and flinched when something so cold it almost burned landed on her hand, keeping her attached to the doorknob. 

"Don't tell Aunt Razz," Frosta demanded, hand still raised towards her. 

"Alright, Frost-Girl." Frosta smiled at the use of her alter ego. But neither of them would be using their superhero side of them if they didn't leave to Germany soon. "Get me out of this thing."

"Right, sorry. I'll get the…"

*

Adora drove the tiny car with confidence. 

Well, as confident as one can be when they're trying to transport two wanted people while attempting to steal government property. She only hoped that no one would notice. 

The meeting spot was in the airport parking lot, on the floor where all the employees parked. They had to be inconspicuous while they try to sneak off to the Crimson Waste. Duh. 

She hopped out of the car as Bow rounded the corner of his van. "Adora," he nodded in greeting, holding a hand out for her. She took it with guilt. 

"I'm sorry for calling you. You know I wouldn't have done it if this wasn't urgent." The poor dude was trying to become a chill librarian, and she dragged him away from that so he could help her fight one of her best friends. Glimmer is  _ his _ friend too. This was her fight; she shouldn't have called him. 

"I understand. You needed a favor. Besides…" Perfuma made herself visible, crawling out of the passenger seat. Her heart crawled even deeper in her throat. Well, if that's even possible. "We needed to get this one out of the house." 

"Thank you for having my back," Adora said to Perfuma. 

"It was about time I used my powers for something other than helping Scorpia make pie," Perfuma shrugged as if this were no big deal. 

"Where's the tiny man Entrapta was talking about?" She asked as Entrapta made her way next to her. 

"It didn't take that much convincing but we still had to put a little bit of alcohol in him when he realized we were bringing him to Germany." Bow opened the sliding door of the van to reveal a full size man who woke up at the sound of the door opening. 

The man with reddish hair and an old school mustache got out of the van with a grumble. He tied the front of his hair with a hair band, and he seemed unenthusiastic. "Jeez… What time zone is it?" 

He noticed Adora standing only a few feet away from him, and he giggled nervously. "Okay, I am totally drunk." He held out her hand to shake, which she did. "She-Ra, heh. This is truly an honor, wow. Yeah, She-Ra. I'm Sea Hawk, by. the way. I know you probably know a lot of people so… Thank you so much, Miss, for thinking of me."

It's not an honor to have to fight the Iron Lady. When will others realize that the Princesses are nothing more than a mess? She dragged Perfuma away, called back Bow when he was already done with everything, and now she's recruiting a man who wasn't going to come unless someone got him totally drunk. 

Sea Hawk waved an Entrapta. "Hey there!"

Entrapta nodded back at him. "What's up, tiny man?" 

"It's really good to see you, ma'am!" He fidgeted with his hands. "Look, what happened last time…"

"No hard feelings," Entrapta grinned. "It was a great audition. It'll just never happen again. Although, I do want to know if you eat tiny food. I love tiny food, and tiny man must equal tiny food! I mean, they  _ did _ tell you what we're up against, right?"

The sudden topic change took Sea Hawk by surprise, but that's just the way Entrapta is. "Something about some crazy Russian assassins?"

Adora nodded. Close enough. "We're outside of the law with this one. We're breaking a lot of them, actually. If you come with you, you're going to become a wanted man."

"It wouldn't be my first time. I was once arrested for arson, among other things."

So  _ this _ is why Entrapta refused to tell her where they were getting their newest recruit from? 

Sea Hawk regained his attention on her and finally let go of her hand. "Wow, I just shook your hand for way too long." He grabbed at her shoulders and biceps, clearly in awe at how hard her muscles actually are. "Oh jeez, your  _ arms." _

Catra slapped the roof of the car to redirect everyone's focus. "We should probably get moving. We have a quinjet, and we don't want-" 

A loud buzzer came over the loudspeaker, interrupting the very annoyed assassin. They listened as the German message continued to play, to which Catra cursed out loud. "They're evacuating the airport. Glimmer prob-"

"Glimmer?" Sea Hawk suddenly got scared out of nowhere. "As in Fukuhara Industries? Like the Iron Lady?"

Adora nodded. "Suit up." She walked away from the van to walk with Catra to their meetup spot with the blue car only a couple of parking spaces down. About goddamn time she got her sword back. She's missed that thing. 

Rogelio stepped out of the car and opened the trunk, revealing the shiny sword (probably newly polished) and the so called 'bird costume'. "Good job staying low profile. They're evacuating the airport."

"I owe you again," Adora sighed. She was really starting a list. 

"I know I probably tried to kill you, and you didn't have to do this, but thank you," Catra smiled. "I don't know who you are but Adora trusts you, and that's good enough for me."

"They're gonna look for you," Adora said as she held her sword again. She had a whole new sense of competence from holding her sword with her suit on again. 

"I know," Rogelio rolled his eyes as Catra grabbed Entrapta's suit out of the trunk. "And you can make it up to me later. Meanwhile…" He pointed to the top of the parking lot where the Iron Lady suit had just landed. 

"Shit.." Adora cursed. They turned around, only bidding a quick goodbye to Rogelio as they ran to meet the others. Catra gave Entrapta the suit, and Adora went alone to meet Glimmer and what looked like Castaspella. The others would join in when they see it fit. 

"I hate running into people at the airport," Glimmer groaned when Adora walked up to her, already in her Iron Lady suit. "It's funny how every time I go, I see someone I know."

"Hear me out, Glimmer," Adora reasoned. "Shadow Weaver isn't a physiatrist, but she still interrogated Catra. She's behind all of this."

A black cat jumped out from the shadows. Lonnie, she'd learned, landed perfectly on all fours and stood up immediately. She went to stand with Iron Lady and Iron Machine. "She-Ra."

The use of official names seemed a little teasing. "Your Highness," she rebuttled with a small smile. What she'd give to see the woman's face underneath the cat mask. 

"Shadow Weaver didn't give me a lot of time to bring you in." Glimmer's face mask retracted as she stepped closer to Adora. "Do you think you could help me out? You know, instead of making my life a thousand times harder." 

"You're going after the wrong person."

"Forgive me, but I'm not a hundred percent on board with your judgement," Glimmer stared at her with a cold glare. "Your buddy actually killed innocent people when she went berserk at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"There's more super soldiers who are exactly like her!" Adora argued. "And they can't control it as much as she can. I can't let Shadow Weaver find them first, Glimmer. I can't."

"Adora…" She whipped around and saw Spinnerella walking over to them with a calm, yet pained expression. "You know what's going to happen if you don't surrender now. Do you really want to fight this one out?"

She didn't say anything because truthfully, she didn't. Her thing back in the forties was the ability to punch through any situation, whether it be a man talking during a movie or something like this. But she's tired of the fight. She wants something better. 

"Okay, I have no patience left," Glimmer stated. She cupped her hands around her mouth for a makeshift megaphone. "Frosty the Snowman!"

Adora was startled when a blast of ice came out of nowhere and attached to her sword. Her sword went flying out of her hand as her arms were bound together in some sort of ice handcuffs. Someone with a blue and white suit flipped onto a random cart, holding the sword in their hands. 

"Ice to meet you," the girl said, flaunting a snowflake emblem on her chest. 

"Nice job, kid," Glimmer congratulated, smiling at the girl. 

"Thank you!" She exclaimed, perking up. Exactly how old is this girl? "I know I probably could've stuck the landing better, but I'm still getting used to the suit." The eyes of the suit widened. "Not that I don't love it! It's amazing, Ms. Fukuhara. It's perfect, and I thank you again."

Glimmer glanced cautiously at Adora, then back to the clearly young girl. "We don't really have to have a conversation about this. Not right now, at least." 

The girl nodded, and suddenly raised her hand in salute. "She-Ra. I'm a big fan. I'm Frost-Girl."

"We'll talk about this later," Glimmer said, trying to calm everyone's nerves. 

Frost-Girl waved to the small crowd of Princesses again. "Hey, everyone."

Adora shook her head. She knew a time like this calls for desperate measures. She'd called up a man who's committed arson, her retired friend, and someone who was sitting out in general. But recruiting what's clearly a young girl? "You've been busy."

Glimmer turned on her in a second. "And you, Adora, have been a total idiot. You dragged Bow back into this mess. You took Perfuma out of a place that she didn't even want to leave. A place, might I remind that ensures her safety as well as those around her. I'm trying to-" she cut herself off with a ragged breath, this conversation taking too much out of her. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Princesses apart."

"You did that when you signed," Adora sighed. This was her family when she woke up. These people were her only anchor to modern life as she adjusted. She doesn't want to give them up, but she has to fight for what's right. Because that's what She-Ra actually is. 

Glimmer narrowed her eyes. "Alright, I'm done. You're going to turn Michalka over,  _ and _ you're going to come with us. Come on, don't make this any harder than it has to be!" 

Over the coms, Entrapta said, "We found a quinjet that's okay to go into the Crimson Waste. We just need to get you and Catra to hanger five in the north runway." 

Adora raised her hands above her head, paying no attention to the way Glimmer's eyes widened. Bow shot an arrow through the ice, and she was ever so grateful that everyone had gotten into position. 

Glimmer's face mask covered her again as she searched for the archer. She could hear Sea Hawk giving himself a pep talk before he grew to full size, Frost-Girl having very limited warning. Sea Hawk kicked the girl's chin, and he took the sword out of her hand as she went flying backwards. 

"I believe this is yours, She-Ra." Sea Hawk held the sword for her, which Adora took gently. She wasn't letting go of this thing for a while, she knew that for sure. 

Glimmer took off flying, but Adora didn't stop her in favor of Castaspella, who was currently only hovering in the air. Lonnie took off running, mainly because the black cat would most likely be going after Catra and Entrapta. She threw the sword at Castaspella to daze her, and then threw it at Lonnie's back when it returned to her hands. 

She tackled the girl and threw her over her shoulder, but Lonnie simply landed on all fours and stood up just as easily. "Get out of the way, She-Ra. I'm not going to ask a second time." 

Adora didn't listen. Instead, she charged, but Lonnie was quicker. The girl jumped several feet in the air and aimed kicks for her chest. Her only attempt at defense was her sword, which could block only so much, especially at the speed she was going. Lonnie finally got a hit, and her feet skidded backwards. 

When Lonnie attempted to scratch at her face, she raised the sword out of reflex. She could hear the cat suit scratching the sword's precious metal, and one look at it showed her the deep cuts along the blade. 

Nothing could damage the sword, so her surprise proved to be an advantage when she was suddenly propelled backwards. She lifted her head in time to see Castaspella jumping towards her, a metal rod with orange lights elevated above her head. 

The only thing Adora could do was raise her sword, and the rod slammed into it, a burst of orange energy coming out of it. Her teeth chattered and her head might as well have turned into mush. 

Castaspella's whole body slammed into her again, or at least attempted to. She leaped out of the way and sent a kick to Lonnie's chest to at least temporarily immobilize this girl. 

"She-Ra, heads up!" Adora turned around as Sea Hawk in his blue and silver armor threw something at her. She barely caught what seemed like a tiny car as he continued to run, briefly turning around to show her a silver circle with something glowing blue in the middle. "Throw that at this when I say so!"

He threw whatever device he had, and shouted, "Now!" She lifted her sword in case she needed it, and threw the car as close to the device as she could. The car grew into normal size, catching on fire and landing almost exactly on Castaspella and Lonnie. 

"Oh, man…" Sea Hawk cursed. "I thought it was a water truck." She turned her head slowly at him, to which he responded, "Sorry?"

She shook her head. She remembered when she had felt this light hearted and nothing mattered. A time of ignorance she wishes she could get back. They turned on their heels and ran to meet with the others. 

Being the fastest, she quickly took the lead. Sea Hawk trailed behind her as Bow and Perfuma caught up to them. Catra and Entrapta came in from the side, and they could all see that the quinjet wasn't that far. 

The only problem was that Scorpia now flew above them, firing a beam of energy directly in front of them. "Adora, I know you believe you're doing the right thing."

Now wasn't the time for Scorpia's behavior analysis! The rest of Glimmer's team had found their way to them, and she knew they were screwed for the moment. "But for all that is good, please surrender," Scorpia continued. 

"What's the plan, Adora?" Entrapta asked, her wings extending to full size. 

"We fight," Adora said simply. 

Both teams began to walk forward. They were breaking into a run in no time, both wanting to reach the halfway point first. Glimmer flew up in the air and directly lowered herself at Adora, using her sword to block the hit. 

Her body vibrated with the impact, and she knew she wasn't the only one to feel a little dazed. 

She hated having to throw punches at her friend. A friend that had done nothing but be kind and support her as she moved through life in the modern world. But when it came down to it, that friend had chosen herself above all. 

Convincing herself she wasn't hurt by the decision had been hard. This fight all led up to.. What? Glimmer getting a few cheap hits in? Her slamming Iron Lady in the chest with her sword as Bow nocked an arrow into her? 

With Glimmer momentarily off her back, she didn't have to search far to see Catra battling it out with Lonnie. Both were using the best of their ability, yet neither of them seemed any close to beating the other. 

Frost-Girl finally noticed that the one she was supposed to be guarding was completely unattended. She made an ice bridge to her destination, but Adora threw her sword to shatter the blue material. 

The girl marveled at the sword from her position on a belt loader as it bounced off a plane and flew back to She-Ra. "That thing doesn't obey the laws of physics. Like at all." 

More proof that Glimmer dragged some poor girl who has some sort of super ability into a problem that wasn't hers. "Look, kid. There's a lot that's happening here that you wouldn't understand." 

At times, it seemed as if Glimmer didn't even understand. 

"Ms. Fukuhara said you'd say that, wow…" Frost-Girl replied sarcastically. She flicked her wrist, and ice came out of her palms and wrapped around Adora's ankles. The girl pulled, and actually landed a pretty good hit to her chest. Her sword went flying when her back made contact with another belt loader. 

"She also said to go for your legs!"

Her sword lay only a couple of feet away from her. She leapt to her feet and ran toward it. Ice grasped at her wrists, and the coldness made it burn. She struggled as Frost-Girl continued to pull, Adora's back bending way too much as her arms were spread in a T-position. 

A small opening presented itself as Frost-Girl readjusted her footing. Adora took it, bringing her left arm to her chest and pulling just as hard. Frost-Girl spun into her, but not before icing up her sword. 

That was starting to get pretty annoying. She grabbed at the ice, and finally realized how thin it is. She pulled the ice, and the girl, and she hit Frost-Girl over the head with the blade part of the sword. She got up, dazed, and flipped onto a random storage container. 

"What else did Fukuhara tell you?" Adora asked. She wanted to know the exact lies Glimmer was telling the hopeful youth. 

"That you're wrong." Ouch, that one hurt. "But you think you're right. That's what makes you dangerous." She flipped off the container (again) and had every intention of nailing Adora in the head with an icicle. 

Adora reacted first, kicking Frost-Girl in the stomach, going easy since this is still what looks like an actual child. She slammed into the wheels of a passenger loading staircase. "Well, Glimmer does have a point."

She hit the wheels, the staircase collapsing in on itself. The stairs themselves weren't that heavy, but the girl had already been fighting and was probably exhausted. She grunted as she caught the large staircase with her hands. 

Even if she's on the wrong side, Adora could still admire the drive in a young person's eyes. "You have a good heart, kid. Where are you from?"

Through clearly clenched teeth, the girl said, "Snows."

Adora grinned as she started to run away, remembering her place of origin. "Bright Moon."

She saw Catra crouched behind a different storage container, and she ran to meet her. Catra ducked her head when she saw her. "We have to go. Shadow Weaver's probably already in the Crimson Waste." 

"We need to take out the one that could fly.." Adora searched the sky. "I'll deal with Scorpia. You get to the quinjet." 

Entrapta squeaked into the coms. "I am offended that you forgot about me! You guys get to the quinjet. I'll deal with everyone that can fly. The rest of us signed up for this, and we know we aren't getting out of here."

Bow sighed. He'd been so quiet, she forgot he was there. "I hate to admit it, but if we're going to win this, some of us are going to have to lose."

Adora closed her eyes. She should've never asked him to come back. She's risking everything he worked for. But it's done, and she refused to let it all be in vain. 

"Adora, this isn't the real fight!" Entrapta barked. She opened her eyes and came face to face with Catra, who was ready to follow her into whatever call she made. "We need something big to distract them."

Sea Hawk laughed. "Guys, I have something big! Something humongous! Something… Something I can't hold for that long and might possibly tear my body in half. Well, on my signal, run as fast as you can!"

Catra looked around for whatever the big diversion was. "You're gonna tear yourself in half?"

Adora put on her best She-Ra voice and said, "I know you've got this, Sea Hawk." She didn't pay attention as he explained he'd only ever done this in a lab and passed out after. Her mind was too clouded with a plan to get to the quinjet. 

She turned only when Catra slapped her arm to get her attention. She saw a giant Sea Hawk holding Castaspella by her suit leg, Glimmer yelling at him to give her her aunt back. "Well, I guess that's the signal."

"Hell yeah, tiny man!" Entrapta yelled. 

Adora grabbed Catra's wrist and started sprinting towards the quinjet. Hopefully, everyone was occupied enough with a thirty feet tall Sea Hawk that they wouldn't notice the other pair of girls running away. 

Scorpia had tried going after them, immediately breaking their hope. But it came back when Perfuma used her powers to get her away from them. Overhead, lasers beamed out of Scorpia as she tried bringing down the roof of the building, but trouble in paradise calls for Perfuma to stop her once again. 

Perfuma screamed in pain, and before they could ask what happened, the building came toppling down. The quinjet couldn't get damaged, and they actually needed to survive to make it to the Crimson Waste. 

They ran through the debris before it had settled, but her heart dropped when she was met by Spinnerella. So  _ that's  _ where she had gone. She shook her head and said, "You're not going to stop, are you?"

Adora looked away, finding the nearest route to the plane. "You know I can't."

Spinnerella raised her arm, pointing her weapon, a stun gun, at them. "I'm going to regret this." Adora grasped at Catra, prepared to make a run for it. 

They were surprised when the gun hit the target behind them: Lonnie. When had she'd gotten here? Adora nodded at Spinnerella in thanks, knowing her actions would get her in a lot of trouble now. 

They ran past her and finally,  _ finally made _ it to the quinjet. 

*

"What's going to happen to your friends?" Catra asked, avoiding eye contact from the passenger seat. 

Adora didn't answer right away. She couldn't because didn't have the slightest clue. She turned autopilot on (thank the lord they have that now) and looked down at her lap. A loud sigh escaped her as she shook her head. "Whatever it is, they can deal with it."

They chose to do what they did. Glimmer chose to sign, and brought everyone down with her. She might feel bad, but for once, she knows that this isn't her fault. They all made their own decisions. 

But the people on her side…

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Adora." 

She stayed silent again. How does she explain to the girl who means the world to her that everything she did was for her? She's worth it simply because Catra has no one else to fight for her. It needs to be Adora. As they approach this fight (that's less than a mile away), they need each other now more than ever. 

"What you did… it wasn't you. You were forced to do it." 

"I know…" Catra drummed her fingers on the console. "But I did it." 

The Crimson Waste came into view below them. She pressed a button to get control of the steering again and started to gently land them. The quinjet hit the floor, and the doors opened at the same time. 

Catra grabbed her gun from the ground as Adora strapped her sword to her back. They stood side by side as they watched the wasteland with anticipation. 

She noticed Catra's troubled expression, so she put her hand on her shoulder. "Remember that time when we rode in the back of an ice cream truck on the way home from the county fair?"

Catra glanced at the hand, then back at Adora. "Isn't that the time you used all of our train money to tip that one band who played a song for us? And we danced to it without caring who saw us? Damn, those musicians must be a hundred years old now."

"So are we."

Maybe it wasn't the best thing to say to alleviate any fears. Catra got another haunted look on her face as she clenched her fists to her side. Adora let go of her shoulder to link their pinkies together; something they used to do back in the day, since they couldn't hold hands. 

But Catra flinched at the familiar touch, smiling sheepishly when she realized what she'd done. Adora grabbed her shoulder again and pulled her into a hug. She can hear the sniffles in her ear and the wetness against her neck. Catra's scared, and that's okay. 

They're about to engage in a fight they may not come back from. Adora's scared too. Afraid of losing Catra, afraid of dying even though she knows it'll be a necessary death, afraid for what happened to her friends, afraid of the great She-Ra forgetting how to do her job. 

She's scared. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guyssss I'm pretty sure I'm falling in love but he's a wrestler so he's already guaranteed an ass so I stress wrote this while avoiding my research paper that's due tomorrow at midnight


	6. Error: Friends Not Found

"The satellites are scanning for Carrero and Michalka," Glimmer told Shadow Weaver. 

No they weren't. She eyed Shadow Weaver suspiciously. As much as Adora had betrayed her, she could still trust the fact that this information wasn't bullshit. It's plausible for this woman to be involved. 

Shadow Weaver hummed, obviously displeased that two super soldiers weren't in cuffs right now. "You're lucky your not in one of these cells." She walked away, expecting Glimmer to follow behind her. 

She didn't want to. She has to check on her aunt. After Scorpia had accidentally hit her trying to target Entrapta, Castaspella had been rendered injured and was currently waiting in the med bay. She  _ has  _ to get there soon. No one else can get hurt under her watch. At least she remembered to send Frosta to a hotel. 

Shadow Weaver led her to the cells where the rest of the Princesses were. She saw the security cameras keeping a close watch on everyone, but there were about five alone for Scorpia. They had the poor girl tied up and restrained… 

Glimmer forced herself to look away. They chose the risk of this happening when they thought it was a good idea to follow Adora into battle. But they didn't know they were going to be in these kinds of cells.. 

It's fine. It's  _ fine.  _ If it were the other way around, Adora would've shown no mercy. Adora would've locked them up without a moment's hesitation just because it was the right thing to do. 

She walked away from wherever Shadow Weaver was going. She watched the woman search for anyone who was watching her before going back on her route towards the quinjets. Strange. 

Walking into the cells holding her friends had to have been the most morally conflicting thing she's done since Fukuhara Industries still created weapons. 

The first thing she heard, but wasn't expecting, was clapping. Then, a loud, "The futurist, everyone! Take a look at the woman who's in charge of the future! She puts all her friends in holding cells. Yeah, she’s definitely going to lead us into a better world.”

Glimmer walked towards Bow. The magazines had always talked about her being the Futurist and Adora being the Woman Out of Time. It’s their thing, and it seems painfully mocking now. “Give me a break, Bow. How was I supposed to know that they were going to put you here?”

He bowed his head, refusing to look at her. “Yeah, well, you knew that we’d be put somewhere.”

She considered that before replying, “A purgatory in the middle of the ocean. Believe what you will, but I didn’t choose this place. It’s for maniacs and-”

“Criminals?” Bow interrupted. He stood and sauntered over to her, arms outstretched as he gripped the cell. “We’re criminals, Glimmer. Right? It didn’t use to mean me, or Entrapta, or even Perfuma. But now we are.”

No,  _ no.  _ He’s not allowed to guilt trip her like this. Not when he made his own decisions and is now blaming her when everything went to shit. He might’ve helped everyone out in November, but it means nothing when he still made the choices he did.

“That’s because you broke the law,” Glimmer pointed out. “I didn’t make you do anything.” He started humming to drown out her talking, which only made her more irritated. “You had a nice little librarian job. You’re a grown up, and you only thought about yourself before choosing the wrong side.” 

She started to walk away when Bow sneered. She didn’t have time to play games with him, especially when he called out, “Watch your back, everyone! She’s got a knife on her at all times and won’t hesitate to use it!”

Yeah, because  _ she’s  _ the one who stabbed everyone in the back. She’s the one who has over a hundred countries in a frenzy because a war criminal is on the loose. She’s the one who’s been admired by everyone since the forties and now has every goddamn military and political position looking down on her.

Because according to Bow, apparently Glimmer Fukuhara was the one who’d done that.

As she walked by another cell, a man with a red mustache said, “They did always say that you can’t trust a Fukuhara.”

She’s never seen this man in her life. “Who are you?”

She continued walking, unbothered by the random allegations. She didn’t even have to talk for the other woman to start first, asking, “How’s your aunt?” 

Staring at Entrapta’s back, she replied, “She’s in the medbay now, but they’re flying her out to Baltimore tomorrow so fingers crossed.” She paused as Entrapta sunk even further into herself. “What do you need? Have they fed you guys yet?”

Entrapta finally turned around, eyebrow raised as she said, “So you’re the good cop?” 

Glimmer shook her head. Like hell she’d ever play good cop. “I’m just the girl who needs to know where Adora went.”

“Well, looks like you need a bad cop now. It’s going to take a lot more than just asking to get a response out of me.” 

Glimmer did a couple things on her watch, then lifted her head to face the inventor again. “I just knocked the security camera footage back. We’ve got about thirty seconds before they realize that something’s wrong.” She walked closer to the cell and Entarpta stared at her watch. “Look, we know Shadow Weaver’s the bad guy. I made a mistake, Entrapta. I was wrong.”

Swallowing her pride as Spinnerella had told her apparently worked as Entrapta tried not to smile. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard those words come out of your mouth.”

“Adora is in too much trouble for any real military assistance, and she’s going to need all the help she can get. I know you and me don’t know each other very well, but if you could help my mom-”

“Alright," Entrapta sighed. Her black eye was highlighted in the dim lighting. She submitted, looking down before raising her chin to face Glimmer. "I'll tell you, but only if you go alone. You're going as a friend, not as an enemy."

They've always been friends. "Well, that's easy. I don't believe we're enemies. We just have different beliefs."

*

Adora and Catra crept into the cave with unease. 

The door was already open, and footprints trailed in the snow. They had been beaten by someone else, and Adora's insides churned with dread. She turned to Catra, and they both had the same expression of horror on their faces. 

"Shadow Weaver couldn't have been here more than a few hours," Adora tried to reassure, but she knew deep down the truth behind her own words. "She might've left right after us."

"That's still more than enough time to wake them up," Catra groaned. They both knew as soon as they left that someone was eventually going to piece together the puzzle. That, or Shadow Weaver was going to use the information she'd illegally gotten. 

They didn't like it, but they stepped into the already opened doorway. Adora went first, sword at the ready as Catra trailed behind, gun raised. This place must've been bringing back memories for her, but if Catra had any flashbacks or anything, she didn't make it known. 

An already opened and ready elevator waited for them at the end of the hall. If anything, it made them feel way more unsteady. They stood parallel to each other as the elevator creaked and squeaked. 

Adora's jaw set with the tension in this tiny compartment. As soon as they defeat Horde Prime… 

What comes next? 

They're wanted in too many countries to simply leave. All of their friends here are most likely in prison, or worse. Shadow Weaver may already be in the building. There's nothing left, besides unspoken words and incomplete relationships. 

Her and Catra still haven't had the chance to talk about that yet. At this point, they know that the past relationship existed. They both know how strong their feelings were up until the train fall. Both painstakingly remembered how Catra had saved a drowning She-Ra while also hesitating to kill her. 

Plus there's the fact that she was on this mission in the first place. When Catra was choking her at the helicopter, she easily could've snapped her neck. Instead of scratching her back, she could've gone for something way less friendlier. There's something in the air; an unspoken agreement to keep each other safe at all costs. 

Yet neither of them knew where they'd return to once everything was dealt and done with. Are they even friends at this point? As much as Adora may still be harboring her old feelings from a very long time ago, she had to ultimately respect whatever Catra decided she wanted to do. 

It doesn't matter how much it'll hurt her. It has, and always will be, Catra first. Despite the obvious upgrades physically, the protectiveness to not fail a second time was still at the top of her priorities. 

The elevator stopped, the doors unlatching. She used to be able to read this girl like it was nothing. Now, she struggled to know when she was overstepping the invisible boundaries that have been put in place. 

Adora glanced at Catra with a nod, and they switched roles. She took the rear this time, Catra keeping watch in front of them. So far, they've found nothing, but they can't start getting too excited. 

Because if Horde Prime was actually as terrible as Catra deemed them (judging by the way her skin was paling, she assumed they were), then they had to be alert from all angles. She knew more about them and this particular location, and her determined expression sent goosebumps along her arms. 

Catra's metal arm was glistening with the overhead lights as she started to climb a staircase. She wanted to know more about the arm, and how technology like this could benefit the world around them. Horrible stuff made by Hydra didn't have to stay horrible. 

A loud thud from behind made them tense up. Catra paused on the first step, whipping around and aiming her gun above Adora's head. She herself crouched down a little lower to allow more room, in case the final fight did end up happening right now. 

It turned out to be the elevator making the noise. They aimed their weapons at the door, waiting for the perpetrator to come out. The sword could be reflective, so maybe she could blind the person while Catra took the offense-

"Are you ready?" Catra asked, her gun bumping the gold crown on Adora's head. She mainly wore it after Hordak made fun of her hair poof once in a fight, and she likes to give her enemies as little as an advantage as possible. So she hid her style choice, even if she stopped wearing it altogether after Glimmer insulted it during an argument they had back in 2012. 

(Yes, she still remembered it. That's only because it hurt her feelings and it drastically changed the way she did her hair.)

"Ready as I'll ever be," Adora replied. 

The doors started to open, and the first thing they saw was a glowing pink light. When they opened all the way, Iron Lady was standing there in all her glory, her faux moonstone in the center of her chest illuminating the dim hallway. 

Immediately, suspicions were high. Did Glimmer bring along her go happy crew of people who want to arrest her? Is she here as a friend? What was she doing here at all? She lowered her sword so only the bottom half of her face was covered, but her guard stayed up. 

Glimmer's face plate retracted as she leisurely walked into the hallway. "Well, you seem a little defensive," she said as she made her way towards the duo. 

Adora stood up from her crouched position, Catra's gun brushing her back. She flinched slightly, but pretended she was fine for both of their sakes. She met Glimmer half-way, saying, "It's been a long day."

"Don't worry, soldiers," Glimmer raised her arms above her head. "I'm not here for you."

"So why'd you come?" 

"Maybe… Shadow Weaver turned out to be completely crazy but no one else besides me knows about it?" Glimmer took a step back as she surveyed the rest of the hallway. "No one knows I'm here besides Entrapta, and I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise I'd have to arrest myself, and I don't really feel like doing that."

"It does sound like a lot of paperwork." She lowered her sword to the side as Glimmer chuckled. "It's really good to see you, Glimmer." 

She smiled sincerely. "You too, Adora." 

They stayed glued to each other for a beat. Both of them were utterly exhausted from all the arguing and fighting from the past couple of days. Two friends were finally coming back together after being forced apart by ideals that neither could blame the other for. 

But the moment was broken when Glimmer finally noticed Catra standing a couple feet behind them with her gun still raised. "Han Solo, you can drop the blaster. We've got a truce thing going on here."

Catra glanced at Adora for confirmation. Only when she raised her hand to signal that it was fine were all weapons finally lowered. Their moment of peace wasn't peaceful at all, but it's fun to pretend. 

Adora gestured for Glimmer to follow her as Catra led the way deeper into the hallway, which emptied out into a larger room with a doorway to the left and right. The trio all stood side by side as they walked to the left, where another room that was already lit up was waiting for them. 

Glimmer raised her fist, the light from her gauntlet and moonstone making it easiest for them to see. She went first, pausing a couple steps in. "I have heat signatures."

"How many?" Adora asked. If she remembered correctly, Horde Prime consisted of six super soldiers. If the amount went up, then they'd know for sure that they were completely screwed. 

"One," Glimmer replied to her surprise. They continued walking, but this room had a much, much larger one at the end that they could already see. 

When they stepped into the bigger room, the overhead lights turned on. There were six capsules with a yellow hue to them. The alarming part was when they started steaming. Were the soldiers being let out? Did they plan to stuff the three of them in the capsules? 

“Don’t worry,” a familiar voice called out. “They died in their sleep.”

No one spent any time trying to pinpoint whose voice that was as they walked to the nearest capsule. A muscular man had his eyes closed and blood running down his face from an open wound on his forehead.

“What the hell…” Catra whispered, gripping her gun tighter. “These people are not supposed to die like this.”

“I’m grateful for Horde Prime,” the voice continued, and her heart dropped as she put a face to the woman’s voice. “After all, they brought you here.”

A small chamber from above filled with light, and Shadow Weaver was smirking with glory. Adora threw her sword at the glass as Glimmer and Catra both prepared their weapons, ready to fire whenever needed. 

Shadow Weaver chuckled as the sword returned to its owners’ hands. “She-Ra, this chamber was built to withstand nuclear blasts stronger than even that plane crash you miraculously survived.”

Glimmer scoffed. “I bet my friends and I could beat that.” 

That plane crash put her to sleep for seventy years by keeping her frozen, and she woke up in a whole new era. They definitely could not beat that, but she applauded any sort of optimism and/or confidence that could be offered at the moment. 

“Maybe you could, Ms. Fukuhara. But you’d need a lot more time,” Shadow Weaver’s raspy voice told them. “But if I die, then you’ll never know what my plan is.”

The three of them began to circle the room, searching for an entrance to the chamber. Quite frankly, Adora could care less about the stupid plan. “You killed innocent people in two different locations. A queen was murdered and her daughter was forced into a position of power just so you can bring us here.”

Nobody mentioned that when Catra’s Horde Soldier side had been brought out, people died there as well. Even if it was information that every person in this room knew, no one dared to bring it up. 

Adora climbed a staircase to stand face to face with the Shadow Weaver through a window. “I haven’t thought about anything else but the Princesses for a very long time. I studied you, I followed you on all your missions. S.H.I.E.L.D. made that quite easy. But now you’re standing here in front of me and I can see the grey specks mixed with the blue of your eyes.”

She took a step back at the words that made her heart start pounding. How long had this woman been observing them for? “It’s so nice to find a mistake in the otherwise perfect princess.”

“What is this about?” Adora demanded, grinding her teeth so hard she felt like they were going to shatter at any moment. 

“I’m here to make good on a promise.”

This, she could understand. She’s discovered an insecurity; the passageway to get her where she needs to get. If Shadow Weaver noticed how compromising the information was, she didn’t let on. Or maybe she wanted them to know what her motives were and didn’t care about them being used against her.

“You lost someone,” Adora concluded. 

Shadow Weaver’s eye twitched. “I lost them at a young age. Then, your lot of so called heroes opened that portal, and I gained them back. I didn’t care that it wasn’t real. I had them back in a perfect reality. But then you closed it, and we even lost Netossa in the process since she sacrificed herself to close the portal. I didn’t just lose somebody. I lost  _ everybody.”  _

Catra and Glimmer made their way up the stairs, standing defensively behind her. Shadow Weaver didn’t pay them any attention, keeping her eyes locked on Adora as she pressed a button. “And now, so will you.”

A computer monitor came to life, displaying first a black screen with nothing but bold, white letters:

**DECEMBER 16, 2019**

She was confused for a second, but when she locked eyes with Catra, and the girl had ‘PANIC’ written all over her face, she understood immediately. She’d confessed in the warehouse the truth about Angella and Micah’s deaths, and there was only one thing that matched up with the timeline. 

If this is what they think it is… 

Glimmer’s focus stayed on the monitor, not noticing Catra and Adora’s flurry of emotions. When the black screen changed to security footage of a dirt road, all three of them sighed with agony. Glimmer glanced between the two of them before turning back to the monitor. “I know this road.”

The tension was thick as Glimmer lifted her head, redirecting her attention to Shadow Weaver as her breathing began to speed up. “What the  _ fuck  _ is this?”

Shadow Weaver stayed silent, pointing back to the monitor. Catra and Adora didn’t turn back, keeping eye contact with each other. They heard the sound as the car crashed into the tree, the revving of a motorcycle following only seconds after.

Glimmer gripped the solid block of metal that the monitor was perched on to keep herself standing. Catra looked away momentarily to glare at Shadow Weaver, but she found Adora’s eyes again in no time. 

They heard the sharp intake of breath when the metal arm came into clear view. They heard as Angella cried out for mercy, even using Adora’s name as an attempt to save her own life. But nothing prepared them for Glimmer's flinching and closing her eyes as she watched Catra grab her mother by the neck and snap it, the bones breaking making an echo inside the room.

“They said the footage of your mother’s death was destroyed,” Shadow Weaver called out. “It wasn’t. I had just kept it. Sadly, Micah’s death wasn’t caught on camera, but I do recall him dying in a very similar manner. Am I correct?”

Glimmer opened her eyes in time to see Catra carelessly tossing Angella’s limp body on the side of the road. She stared at the camera, and it was the last confirmation needed that it had, in fact, been Catra. Her hands fell away from the metal block and landed at her side, fists clenching. 

“Glimmer, I-”

_ “Did you know?”  _ Glimmer asked with venom in her voice, turning to Adora.

“Listen-” She was caught off guard by Glimmer suddenly trying to lunge at Catra, the super soldier only taking a single step back. Adora grabbed Iron Lady’s arm, holding her back. “Glimmer, hey. Stop it.”

She pointed a finger at Adora and gripped her forearm, narrowing her eyes as she took in labored breaths.  _ “Did you fucking know?” _

Pausing briefly to consider her next words, she said, “Look, you have to understand-”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Carrero. I’m not asking to understand. I’m asking if you knew.”

Adora swallowed, ready to make a run for it. It’d be difficult with the grip on her arm, but her and Catra would have to escape somehow. “Yes.”

Glimmer pushed her away, stumbling back a little herself. Her shoulders were tense and her fists were clenched, but her stance wasn’t a fighting one. She glared at the monitor as if it were the computer’s fault that her mother was gone. 

But nothing prepared them for Glimmer’s gauntlet slamming into Adora’s face. 

They were expecting the attack, but the surprise punch and the power from the Iron Lady suit knocked her off the stairs as she rolled down. Glimmer had gone after Adora first because she’s the one trying to protect Catra. She can’t leave the two of them alone.

They can’t kill each other.

She pushed herself up to her elbows, but not before she saw Glimmer carrying Catra across the room. Adora got up and ran, throwing her sword to deflect where Glimmer was aiming her gauntlet to the other girl's face. 

When the sword returned to her hands, Iron Lady was already turning around to sucker punch her again. Adora drove the hilt of her sword into Glimmer's arm, who skidded backwards and landed in a crouch. 

Way too confident in her abilities, she used her sword to protect herself as Glimmer came flying at her with a charged gauntlet. But she'd underestimated the power of the Iron Lady suit, and it sent her flying backwards as a pair of electric handcuffs wrapped around her ankles. 

From her place on the ground, she could see where Catra was pinned on the wall by the murderous woman. She was in a chokehold, dodging loaded charges by mere inches everytime. 

Adora got over her surprise fairly quickly after that. She used both hands to grab the hilt of her sword as she drove the blade through the cuffs. It gave her a minor shock, but it was nothing she couldn't handle without walking it off. 

She sprinted to where Catra grabbed Glimmer's wrist and shot it upwards, the energy beam from the gauntlet hitting something in the ceiling. The roof was beginning to collapse, flames and smoke surrounding the area. 

The fighting duo was separated by a pole that landed in between them. Glimmer landed… wherever, and Catra stopped only a few feet in front of where Adora had stopped. 

"Go, get out of here!" Adora shouted, looking for the quickest escape route. She knew she'd be the one to get the most mercy from Glimmer, but she definitely can't speak for the both of them. 

"No, not without you!" Catra yelled back, getting up from the floor to stand next to her. 

"If you're not going to leave, then at least run," she ordered, watching the girl nod as she began to sprint. 

Catra pressed a button on the wall, and the ceiling to the room before this one started to open up. But before she could get very far, Glimmer popped up out of nowhere and began to fly towards the other room. 

Adora ran until she stopped in front of Iron Lady. The helmet, which was usually a symbol for unity and the beauty of teamwork, now seemed cold towards her. "It wasn't her and you know it! She had no control over her mind!"

"Shut your mouth and  _ move." _

Look, she understood. She really did. The death in itself was still fresh and hadn't happened that long ago. Even Micah's death still stung, and he wasn't even her dad! But why continue the attack when the real enemy is probably watching them with the biggest grin on her face? 

"It wasn't her!" When Glimmer tried to fly up, Adora grabbed her ankle and pulled back. She used the soldier side of her, and she's never used it against anyone on the Princesses.

When she successfully pulled her back to the ground, Adora jammed her sword into the Iron Lady chestplate, who slammed into a wall adjacent to them. She sent a beam of lasers at Adora, to which she ducked to avoid. 

But when she lifted her head, Glimmer was already flying towards the opening roof, getting closer and closer to Catra. One of her boosters were failing, indicated by the sparks, but she still had enough juice to kick Catra square in the chest, falling down the ladder she was climbing and onto the ground. 

Adora growled when she heard the groan of pain only feet next to her. She threw her sword to get Glimmer's attention. She whipped around in a second, raising her charged gauntlet and blasted a laser beam at her. Adora raised her sword by reflex, the beam bouncing off the blade and back at Glimmer, hitting her chest and sending her falling to the floor as well. 

Up until now, Adora had convinced herself that Glimmer could be reasoned with. But that fall could have very well have killed Catra, and they knew all hope was gone. 

"She's not gonna stop," Adora said as she helped Catra to her feet. "You need to go."

They didn't have enough time to formulate even a crappy plan before Glimmer regained her composure. She raised both palms this time, threatening them with two gauntlets. Catra leaped until she got to the ladder, and if it were possible to sprint up ladders, it was happening now. 

Adora threw her sword again, but Glimmer caught it and launched it into the hallway they hadn't gone down the first time; the right side. She hadn't noticed it'd been aimed towards the button that Catra pressed earlier, and the ceiling closed much faster than it opened. 

Catra lost her composure when Glimmer flew up and wrapped her arms around her, dragging her back down to the ground. Adora tackled the falling duo midair to break their fall, and took the brunt of it by landing on the bottom.

"You good?" Catra asked. She nodded, and they followed each other into the right hallway. They ran down the length of the hall, and found another room. It had pillars with no walls, the outside snow and harsh Crimson Waste weather making her teeth chatter. 

Glimmer stomped menincely down the hall, but stopped at the entrance. This is one fight she really doesn't want to punch her way out of. They already fought in the airport; the fight doesn't need to continue. 

"This isn't going to change what happened to them," Adora tried to explain, cradling her jaw as it began to tense up. 

“I don’t care…” Glimmer muttered. “She killed my mom.” She flew at Adora with vigor, raising her fist to punch her in the face. She got about three good hits in before she snapped out of her surprise and fought back.

Adora grabbed Glimmer in a chokehold as she fired at Catra, the girl becoming a lump on the floor. The kickback from the shot sent them both crashing to the floor and her sword fell out of her hand, but Glimmer landed on her feet intact. She started to hit Adora smack dab in the head, which she could do nothing to dodge as the Iron Lady suit was straddling her.

A cry came from above them as Catra lodged the sword into Glimmer’s back, using the blade to deflect the gaunlet’s energy beam. She tossed the sword to Adora, who hit the back of Glimmer’s head with it as Catra hit her from the front. She got down to one knee and bounced the hilt off of the floor and into Catra’s waiting hands, who slammed it into Glimmer’s helmet repeatedly before throwing it back to Adora.

Glimmer, having finally had enough of the duo beating the crap out of her, pressed her gauntlet to Adora’s stomach and fired. The shot propelled her backwards, and she was definitely more than a little injured now. The bottom of her suit exposed her abs, and they were bleeding and she’s losing blood  _ way too fast. _

She put her head against the concrete of the cool floor, pressing her hands to her stomach in order to stop the bleeding. Cuts and bruises were all over her body, but this big one is the only one she's paying attention to. 

Catra and Glimmer's fight became nothing but background noise. At least, it was until she heard a loud cry of pain. 

She looked up from her spot on the floor, and saw Catra on one knee with… with only one arm. 

The metal arm was replaced by a shoulder blade with tons of wires sticking out. She watched how Glimmer tossed the sword she was holding like nothing to the side.  _ What the hell did she do?  _

Adora forced herself to deal with the pain, pushing herself to her feet and running to Glimmer. She grabbed the sword and swung, moving forward as Glimmer stumbled back. She pressed her laser beams to the sword, the blade reflecting it. Orange sparks and lights came in between the middle of them. 

She continued to push backwards until she had Glimmer pinned against a wall, using her fists and sword to hit her in the helmet and chest. Glimmer didn't fight back the first fifteen hits, regaining hope when she caught the blade with her gauntlet. 

Using her gauntlet to make the sword fly out of her hands, Glimmer kicked her just above her wound and ejected her backwards. She came at Adora again, slamming her head into the concrete which made her bite her tongue. Damn.

Adora lifted her head, glancing at the unconscious Catra before turning back to Glimmer. She swallowed a bit of blood before saying, "She's my friend."

_ "So was I." _

The words set her off again, Glimmer hitting her hard enough to force her onto the ground. She coughed blood, compressing the open wound on her stomach. She knew that the only reason Glimmer was getting any hits in is because she's getting dizzy with the loss of blood. 

Glimmer grabbed her shoulder from off the floor and threw her against the wall, where she landed next to Catra. A cold gauntlet was aimed at her head, ready for the kill shot. 

"Don't move," Glimmer commanded. "Final order." 

But it's not like Adora to actually listen, which she showcased by slowly using the wall to lift herself up into a standing position. She raised her fists for a fist fight, stating, "I could do this all day."

With a stained white uniform and fighting one of her best friends, She-Ra prevailed and stood her ground. Glimmer charged her gauntlet, and she had a feeling that it would be the last attack of the fight. 

Or so she thought.

Catra grabbed Iron Lady's leg, but Glimmer kicked her to get it off. Adora snuck up behind her while she was distracted and lifted her above her head by the legs and shoulders. She tossed with all the force she had left, and jumped onto the girl's lap to straddle her. 

Grabbing her sword from the side, she jammed the hilt into the Iron Lady armor and helmet over and over and over again. Glimmer's face plate retracted, and she put her hands in front of her to protect her from the incoming hit. But that wasn't the next destination. 

Adora flicked her wrist to hold the hilt, and drove the blade into Glimmer's faux moonstone. 

It's where the girl powered all of her armor and everything else. The Iron Lady suit shut off, and Adora couldn't bring herself to look at Glimmer's heartbroken expression. She closed her eyes as she pulled the blade out of the stone, wanting nothing more than to curl up on the floor and cry. 

But she didn't. She made herself stand up and look down at Glimmer on the ground, who was having trouble controlling her breathing. She couldn't stand to see her friend's face bleeding so much, so she turned away and walked to Catra. 

Catra stood with difficulty, even with Adora's outstretched hand to help her up. They leaned on each other for support as they started to make their way out. 

"That sword doesn't belong to you!" Glimmer yelled, agony and pain in her voice. "My father made that sword! He made it for  _ you!" _

At the mention of Micah, Adora sighed. She couldn't betray his legacy by essentially stealing something like this. 

She threw the sword on the ground next to Glimmer, the scratches Lonnie left on the blade visible in the dim hue. She set her jaw and put her chin up higher. She needed to be strong, yet running was their only option. 

With great difficulty, Adora walked away from one of her only friends as she left behind She-Ra's signature weapon, her arm wrapped around the person she did this all for. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just got home from practice and it was hard and we compete on Saturday and I don't think we're ready so I had mental breakdown when j got home and finished this finally


	7. Is This A Coping Mechanism?

Glimmer twisted her head at Frosta's phone. 

"What are you doing? Is this a video diary?" She asked as the camera focused on her. But she supposed she wasn't meant to see it as the young girl shut her phone off quickly. A ping in Glimmer's sunglasses told her that Frosta's heart rate just spiked near fatal and that her phone had become inactive. 

"Uhh…" She didn't know what to say about that little show. "Your phone just self destructed then your heart snorted some coke."

Frosta smiled. "I didn't know if I was supposed to record you. You know, because of the…" She gestured to her face. 

Glimmer pressed her hand to her black eye, healing jaw, and multiple cuts all over her face. It'd been two days since the fight, and her broken jaw was finally settling back into place. None of the other bruises showed any sign of getting better anytime soon. 

"I may have fought a criminal but filming isn't an offence," she joked, trying not to replay every single hit in her mind. "I know I'm not harboring a teenage fugitive."

Frosta shifted and stayed quiet. 

"...I'm not, right?"

The girl laughed and shook her head. "No, no. I'm not thinking about that. It's just… It's crazy to think that the people I looked up to for so long for being a war hero is wanted now."

It wouldn't be long for Frosta to begin to see Iron Lady in the same light. She'd allowed her emotions to get the better of her, and she almost killed two people that day. Two people who deserve a fair trial; not death. 

But it's not happening. If she had allowed for any sort of mature talking to be done, then all of this would be avoided. But now she's got She-Ra's legendary sword in the trunk of her car, idly collecting dust for who knows how long. 

Adora is a war veteran from the forties. She knows how to stay off the radar and away from tech. If anyone wanted to even take a guess at where she is right now, the inbox has been open for two days and will go on longer. 

Shadow Weaver had done exactly what she wanted to do. She'd managed to tear apart the Princesses from the inside. Glimmer almost felt like she'd helped her succeed. They knew exactly how to make her tick after watching her for… Whatever amount of time. 

Yet they knew how to get Adora to go ballistic too. As soon as someone put Catra in danger, the playing field changed. It's almost like there were no more rules because of how determined and strong willed Adora's mind is when it comes to protecting the people she loves. 

Some argue a lot about who’s the most dangerous or strongest super soldier or mutant. In her opinion, it will always be Catra. Not just because she’s strong physically, but because of Adora. Everything Adora would do for her is terrifying, mainly because there’s no other person in the world that Adora would go to those extremes for. 

Frosta grimaced at Glimmer's silence. "I totally said the wrong thing, didn't I? I'm sorry, Ms. Fukuhara. I didn't mean for it to come out any certain way. I just started talking and when I start talking I can't stop. Please make me stop talking now before I say something stupid. Or at least something stupider than what I've been saying-"

Glimmer laughed at the nervous rambling. Jeez, this kid has almost all of her qualities. Only the good ones, at least. "It's not you, don't worry. I've just been thinking about Adora way too much."

She'd brought Frosta here with every intent to leave her in that hotel room and fly her back to Snows as soon as she returned from the Crimson Waste. 

But she decided that moping and sitting around is making Shadow Weaver win. She wouldn't have that. Especially not after Lonnie somehow followed them to the remote area and witnessed the secretary's attempt to take her own life. 

So, she put her big girl pants on and decided to personally hand Frosta over to her aunt. She saw no real damage, besides a bruise underneath her left eye. But they could always blame that on sleep deprivation. 

"Hey, get your video diary out again. I want to make an alibi for your aunt." Frosta did as instructed, lifting her front facing camera to get them both in the frame as Glimmer said, "Hey, Razz! I just wanted to let you know that your niece  _ killed  _ it throughout the whole retreat and I am definitely offering her the job here at Fukuhara Industries!" 

She smiled as Frosta stopped recording, then her face fell when she really looked at herself through the camera. "You said you were good at video editing, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Edit out everything that's on my face."

Frosta laughed as they pulled up to her apartment. She seemed disappointed, almost as if she enjoyed getting beat up by some of the strongest people in the world. 

But then Glimmer remembered a very important thing; the main reason why she's in this car right now. "Oh, you can keep the suit, by the way."

She grinned at the way Frosta's face lit up with excitement. Glimmer enjoyed the idea of having someone to follow a path that she helped create. Hopefully one that she could do without screwing everything up. "I… I can keep the suit?"

Glimmer nodded, grabbing her sunglasses from their place on her chest and put them onto the bridge of her nose. "As long as you do me a favor. If you're doing something, and it's something you think I would do,  _ don't do it.  _ We see very clearly here that lots of things I do aren't the best solutions."

Frosta cocked her head as she attempted to hold onto every word that was said. "Okay. So do stuff you wouldn't do."

"No."

Silence followed afterwards after the confusing statement. "Look, I have a heart condition and I freak out whenever someone is in danger. I don't think my aunt or yours would appreciate you getting hurt under my watch. There's a little grey area and that's where you fall in."

Frosta nodded, so she (hopefully) understood. She gasped and said, "Does this mean I'm a Princess?"

The Princesses aren't really a thing anymore, with half the team in prison or on the run. But she'll let the girl down slowly, to which she said, "No."

Frosta made a face at that, but looked down at her lap to the metal suitcase with the new Frost-Girl suit. "So, when's the next 'retreat'? Or are we officially calling them missions?"

"We'll call you, don't worry."

She could understand the eagerness to go on a mission with what's left of the Princesses. The adrenaline rush, the satisfaction of hitting a bad guy in the face. It's all romanticized, and it's super easy to do that. 

But Frosta would be disappointed if they saw what everyone was actually like. What  _ she  _ was actually like. She wanted to keep the innocent ignorance for as long as she could. Her perspective on Adora used to be the same, and look at them now. 

"You guys have my number?" Frosta asked, confused as she brushed her bangs out of her face. 

"I have it, yes," Glimmer sighed. She didn't imagine this being that difficult. "So like I said, next time we need you, don't worry. We will call you."

She reached across Frosta's body to grip the door handle, but froze when she felt a pair of arms around her. She coughed, then realized that she was currently trapped in a hug. And when she gets beat up by one of her friends, she’s not exactly looking for any physical contact right now.

“This isn’t a hug, kid,” Glimmer opened the door, then retracted into herself. “I was just grabbing the door for you. We’re not there yet.”

Frosta must've noticed the uncomfortable tension. There goes Glimmer Fukuhara, ruining everything with a touch. She smiled and grabbed the briefcase, stepping out of the vehicle with a bright and innocent smile. 

“Bye!” Glimmer called out, to which Frosta bidded goodbye even louder. She ran inside her apartment building with her suitcase in one hand, briefcase in the other. She watched the teenage girl with sadness, coming to the ultimate realization.

Frosta had a blast this weekend.

Glimmer fought the most heartbreaking fight of her life.

*

Adora watched as Lonnie observed Catra's new arm. 

"Hmm," Adora hummed, liking the way the Horde Prime symbol had been removed. "I actually really enjoy the glow up. Not so much a murderous war criminal on the run, but now you look like you only deserve ten years prison time, max."

Lonnie laughed at the joke, which relieved everyone in the room. After Lonnie discovered that Shadow Weaver had been behind all of the attacks, she offered Catra hospitality and kindness in exchange for her forgiveness. 

Catra smiled and looked down, shaking her head. "You are seriously the only person I know that can still make jokes with a black eye. I can literally bet two arms that everyone on the flip side is probably wallowing."

Maybe she didn't pick up on the poor word choice, but Adora definitely did. 

Glimmer has to deal with the death of her mother and father almost all over again. She has new information that she didn't have the first time around, and the wound is probably reopening. She doesn't even have her best friend by her side anymore. She hardly has a team left. 

Spinnerella has still been coping with Netossa sacrificing herself to close the portal. Mermista thinks she may not be dead, but no one wants to hope. She doesn't  _ have  _ any more hope, giving it up when she zapped Lonnie for trying to stop them from escaping. 

Castaspella might be paralysed, and that one hurt her soul. Not for Adora, but for Entrapta. Entrapta must have that guilt heavy on her conscious. They were going to get them out of that prison as soon as possible. 

A goddamn teenage girl who didn't even know what she was fighting for. She has no clue about the politics at play, or the way the Accords actually worked. She'd gotten information from Iron Lady, and that's what she went with. 

Everyone has something to mourn right now. Adora had lost one of her first friends since coming out of the ice. Bow and Glimmer were there for her from the beginning. One's in prison and the other she abandoned in the Crimson Waste. 

Catra sighed. "Lonnie, I was meaning to ask earlier, but I was wondering if you had by any chance… I don't know… Is there anything we can do that will get rid of Hydra in my head?"

Adora whipped her head around. She had never thought about asking what they could do about Hydra, and now she felt really dumb. If there's anyone who even has a chance at removing brainwashing done years ago, it's Lonnie. 

Catra was ready to put the work in to try to fix everything. She had been prepared, after fixing the arm and breaking everyone out of prison, to start something that could possibly break the brainwashing. It made Adora happy to see her so like herself again. 

Now they may have an actual solution, clearly shown by Lonnie's small smile. "Do you know where you are? Of course there's something we can do about Hydra and Horde Prime."

Catra sat up straighter. "What do I need to do? Please, I'm not in control of my own head and it scares me that I don't. I remember everything after I've done it, and I can't deal with that anymore." She turned and made eye contact with her. "I remember  _ them." _

Glimmer's parents. 

Catra knew Micah. Even though she might not have known Angella, Micah had been her father figure during the war. He looked out for them, and was devastated when Adora came back from the train mission without Catra. He didn't find out until decades later, as he was dying, that she'd been alive the whole time. 

"We have two methods," Lonnie spoke as she walked around the room. "The first one is to go into cryogenic freeze for months, and we'll take it out while you're in there. Or, you could come in a couple times a month. We'll put you under for twenty-four hours, and do it progressively."

Catra considered this. She nodded, obviously storing the information for later. "I'll let you know. I'll definitely come back, but I just need to figure out which method I'll be doing."

"I am curious, however…" Lonnie started as she grabbed a cloth to polish the metal arm. "What do you plan to do now that you're some of the most wanted people in the country?"

They had a chance to talk about this before Lonnie found them and they hid in the quinjet she'd secretly taken. They knew that they had to break everyone out of prison first. They weren't leaving anyone who fought with them behind. 

After that… It's kind of a blur from there; almost a guessing game. They don't have a set plan, but Rogelio found them an apartment that they could hideout in for a while. He thinks they have a month before someone catches them, which should be more than enough time to form a whole new plan. 

"You may disagree with this," Adora ducked her head. "But we want to get our friends out of that prison."

"For that, you need a location." Lonnie smiled as she grabbed a notepad and scribbled in it. She held it out to them, and an address was written out. "That's where they're keeping everyone. Be careful, though. They most likely put Shadow Weaver in the same place after her arrest. If she sees you, it's over for you guys."

Adora nodded, taking in the information. "Alright. I can live with being stealthy. After breaking them out, we have a place we can stay. It should last us about a month at most. After that, we'll probably leave here in general."

After having double and triple checking the new arm, Lonnie crossed over to her. "Curiosity may have killed the cat, but I can't keep this question to myself… Why did you keep the truth from Glimmer?"

Catra grimaced. "Because Adora's an idiot."

Whatever she was expecting to hear definitely wasn't that, but the super soldier continued. "I don't know why she didn't turn me in after I confessed to two murders. She could've left me behind when Castaspella arrested us, but she didn't. Adora kept the truth from Glimmer because she's an idiot."

Adora was stunned. She didn't know how to reply to her calling of an idiot. Sure, she could be impulsive sometimes and start doing things without thinking about it. Okay, so at times she's jumped into reckless situations. Maybe she lets her emotions drive her too much sometimes. 

It doesn't mean she's an idiot, though… 

Lonnie looked between the two of them with a grin, then grimaced as her watch went off. She huffed as she read the message, telling the duo, "Hey, so Glimmer's coming over because she wants to discuss some things. Suggestion… Maybe you shouldn't be here?"

Catra hopped off the cot she was sitting on and grabbed Adora's wrist, dragging her out of the room. "C'mon, idiot. Rogelio isn't going to appreciate us being gone for this long. Thank you again, Lonnie. I'll see you soon to discuss my brainwash removal."

Adora continued on with her chin up. God forbid She-Ra be caught without her signature confidence, even at a time like this.

*

Adora supposed stealing alcohol when she's already wanted isn't a good idea, but oh well. She's wanted anyways.

They retreated back into the hideout Rogelio had arranged for them once they got back from Mystacore. Stopping by a grocery store and taking a couple of beers underneath her red leather jacket can't be  _ that  _ bad, right? 

Catra opened her White Claw with her teeth, which was seriously doing something to her heart. She took a long drink, not even pausing for the burn of the alcohol. They sat on one of the beds, huddled together as they looked over the blueprints of the prison their friends were at. 

"We get there at around… Ten in the morning?" Catra asked, looking around the dark room. They got back just after dusk, so they've been at this for a little more than a half hour. 

Adora nodded. "Glimmer just got back from dropping that kid off at Snows, but her flight leaves at eight tomorrow." They had the wonderful Lonnie to thank for the information, luckily. "They're interrogating Shadow Weaver at ten tomorrow, so the security on everyone else will probably be at its lowest tomorrow."

Catra took in the information. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She regarded Adora with a very pointed look, saying, "What's up? You've been all business since we came back from the Crimson Waste, and you haven't stopped working at all. I don't know how much you've changed, but the Adora I remember only overworked herself when she was stressed."

Her jaw tightened. She looked away, biting her lip as she wondered what this meant. She didn't even think about the person who had once been the closest to her to be the one to catch her. She had assumed all the little details like her work habits and how she would get when she would start to freak out. 

It was funny, actually. Once, after being rejected for enlistment (again), she had stormed into Catra's apartment and demanded that she use the phone to call someone in charge. When her girlfriend refused, she almost started a strike in the city. 

It's crazy what girls do sometimes; times to get what they want. But she was reminded that her emotions were acting for her. She wasn’t going on her own accord, and she needed to take a step back to remember that.

First, she raised her Modelo to her lips and drank half of it; super soldier genes and all. Then, she inhaled in her nose and out her mouth to control her breathing. “Yeah, that part of me still hasn’t changed.” Her small smile fell, and she knew she was actually losing her mind.

Grabbing the blueprints, she tossed them off of the bed and curled into herself. “It’s just… I’ve always had someone in my corner. Bow and Glimmer were some of my best friends. I left one behind and the other one landed in prison after he helped me. I got all my friends in jail.”

Catra shook her head and sighed. She was expecting judgement, but instead she got a tiny giggle. “Just like the old Adora.”

Adora stared at her weirdly, wrapping her arms around herself in defense. “What?”

“Stupid, proud, and idiotic Adora,” Catra poked her forehead. “You always think these things are your fault when they’re not. Bow and everyone else made that choice to come with us. They knew the risks when they decided to come with us. You did not force them into anything because they all agreed to it.”

“I mean…” It’s what everyone has been telling her. But she can’t imagine Entrapta, who can’t sit still for the life of her, stuck in a prison cell with nothing to do and nothing to invent. Or even Perfuma, who was chilling with Scorpia safe and sound.

“Nope, I don’t want to hear it,” Catra stated. “I know you’re feeling guilty about that, but it’s not  _ just _ that. There’s definitely something else.”

Adora felt her eyes start to water, but she refused to cry. She crossed her legs, looking down at the bed. The second she made eye contact with Catra, she knows she’ll lose it. The girl’s eyes always made her vulnerable, but in a safe way. But right now, the last thing she needs to see is pity and sadness.

“Glimmer was the first person I was friends with when I came out of the ice. I… I just can’t believe that I lost that. I can never have connections to people, and she was one of those few people and-” She cut herself off when an ugly sob escaped her, burying her face in her hands.

She was the reason for the friendship’s downfall. She had decided to keep Catra’s secret. While she would never hesitate to do it again, it didn’t stop the guilt from eating at her. Maybe if she had signed when Glimmer literally begged her to, this could’ve been avoided. But she couldn’t swallow her pride for one second and get it over with.

Being a leader also means knowing when to let someone else take the lead. She should’ve submitted at that point. Her and Glimmer could’ve worked together from there, and they would’ve taken Shadow Weaver down from the inside. Or possibly brute strength, considering they’re She-Ra and Iron Lady.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Catra grabbed her wrists and took them away from her hands. “No, no, please don’t cry.” She laughed as another tear slipped from Adora’s eye and down her cheek. “You always were the ugliest crier.”

Adora snorted. “You’re one to talk! I still remember how much you cried when I almost moved that one time we were fifteen. You ugly sobbed more than me, and Adam had to convince my mom to stay for the well being of two fifteen year-olds.”

Catra cradled Adora’s face with her normal hand, her weaponized nails having been cut down in Mystacore. “See? You loved me when I was at my worst. Now, we’re both about to be at our best. It won’t be possible for me to turn into the Horde Soldier anymore, and you’re free from being She-Ra. You’re, dare I say, relieved of your duty.”

Adora rolled her eyes and grabbed Catra’s hand. Her thumb wiped a fresh tear as she sniffled. 

Perfuma showed her what her worst fear is when the portal opened; she’d just gotten home from the war. Medallions from her time as She-Ra adorned her armor, and her sword was strapped to her back. She walked into her house only to be greeted by no one.

She was all alone.

“It’s all coming back to me…” Catra muttered. “My memory, I mean. The longer I’m not the Horde Soldier, the more solid those moments become. I… I remember my life when the portal opened. I remember Mara strapping me to a table and forcing that part out of my brain because it interfered with their crap. I had seen you.”

When the portal opened, she woke up the morning when Catra was meant to leave for Beast Island. But she had her girlfriend next to her in bed, and they were able to be normal. 

A part of her is tripping out because she finally has the chance to. She doesn’t even have her sword anymore, and She-Ra is a wanted war criminal. The Horde Soldier can’t go out in public without being shot on sight. They don’t have to be heroes or villains anymore. They can just be Catra and Adora.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Catra said. “It’s just as crazy to me. I didn’t even know who you were when that portal opened. But something… something in my mind just reconnected with you. We have that same connection that you and Glimmer had. Losing one person doesn’t mean you’re completely alone in the world, you know.”

Despite the teasing tone, there were some serious undertones to it. Catra took another swing of her White Claw before settling it on the ground, turning back to Adora. “Look, those old memories are great. But honestly… I want to make new ones. At least, if you’ll have me…”

Adora’s smile nearly broke her face as she wiped the tears with the back of her hand. “I’ve waited seventy years to hear those words again.” 

Adora leaned forward and met Catra in the middle, and their lips met. 

It's just how she remembered. The familiar feeling of Catra's mouth fitting against hers was everything she had missed, and so much more. She'd been starved since that train fall, and getting it back again was a whole new sensation. 

She perched herself in Catra's lap, sighing lovingly as the girl laid down on the bed. Adora grabbed at Catra's wrists, holding them securely to ensure that she could never leave again. This way, they'd both be safe. 

Catra wrapped her legs around Adora's waist, and they melted into each other. Way back when, it was usually Catra on top. Adora had a new sense of control by being the one who took the dominant position. 

Their super soldier genes didn't need air for a while, but they pulled away when they were on the brink of passing out. Catra practically meowed, and it was doing things to Adora's stomach, if you catch her gist. 

Catra then flipped them over so they were both on their sides. She pressed her chest to Adora's back, their limbs becoming a mess within each other. 

"I don't think we've held each other since you left that morning," Adora pointed out. It hurt her to think that the last time she had Catra in her arms had been the past. "That was the last time I saw you before Hordak changed you."

Catra got a dark look in her eyes. "It was also the last time I saw little Adora. Small, five foot nothing inches Adora. You rescued me as She-Ra, with all your muscles and stuff. Then we really weren't able to be around each other like this."

They both knew exactly what she meant. At least in their hometown, they were able to somewhat hide what they actually meant to each other and still show some kind of physical attraction. 

But once they were reunited, Adora couldn't sneak into Catra's bed anymore, and vice versa. They would've been caught for sure, and probably publicly exposed for what they were. 

As much as Etheria tried to differ from Hordak and what he was doing, especially to people like them, they knew better than to show their relationship. While they wouldn't be tortured or executed, something bad would've still happened. 

"How about we finally let go of that time?" Adora suggested. "I found myself clinging onto that past a lot these past few months. Ever since I saw you on the highway, I haven't been able to think about anything else  _ but  _ the past. I want to move forward; move on."

Catra nodded, pressing her face into Adora's neck. "Yeah, I'd like that. I've been trying to piece together everything and everyone from back then but… My memory will come back eventually. All I need is to step back a little and let it happen naturally."

Adora turned around to face Catra. "Here's to making ourselves something that isn't stuck in the past. Two girls who found themselves out of time, but managed to find their way because they had each other."

They kissed again, finally allowing what happened in the forties to pass through them and be let out with a sigh a relief. 

No sword, no She-Ra, no Horde Soldier. Finally free, finally allowed to be who they are; all conveyed with just a kiss. 

*

"So  _ this  _ is a radio?" Catra asked, amazed at the little pink box that sat atop a random table. 

Adora hadn't even paid attention to any of the home decor when she had first walked in. She'd been too busy wallowing in guilt to really notice what was hanging on the walls, or what was on the tables and whatnot. 

She hid bones in that closet. That's all she knew. 

But she did laugh at Catra's curiosity as she put her red, long sleeve turtleneck over her head. She glanced over Catra's choice of a solid green sweater, admiring the way the girl looked in modern clothes. 

Neither of them questioned the random clothing in the closets. They just went with it, glad it was all the same size. They  _ did  _ have the She-Ra uniform and Horde Soldier get up, but she had ripped the emblem off of both in the heat of the moment after they left Glimmer. 

"Yeah, that's a radio," Adora told her. She remembered being this exact way when she got out of the ice, and it cracked her up to see someone else go through the wonder she had. "How have you never seen one? Didn't you live in a military place or… something?"

"Or something," Catra agreed with a nod. "Besides, those never played music. It was always radio communications and all that…" She trailed off, walking to an armchair where Adora's old white hoodie lay. 

"I forgot I had that thing," Adora noted. "Rogelio must've found it in my old apartment and sent it here." She noticed how the other girl stroked the material of the oversized hoodie. "What's the matter?"

"Did… You knew it was me who left this, right?" Catra asked, suddenly unsure. She was so unsure about everything in her life, and it's so upsetting and just downright sad to see her struggling to remember simple things. 

"Of course I knew it was you. Who else is stubborn enough to nurse me back to health but  _ not  _ take me to any sort of hospital or whatnot?"

As joking as she'd been, Catra sucked in a loud breath. "This was one of the last things I did under Horde Prime; before I broke away from the brainwashing. I went to the nearest store and grabbed it from the display window. I was in and out before they ever noticed me."

These memories can't be easy to think about, and it amazes her to see how Catra could talk about it. Adora sometimes refuses to speak about the 2012 battle. 

It wasn't necessarily what happened to her, per say. But it was more of the experience. She hadn't been out of the ice for long, clinging to every link from her past. Angella and Glimmer were begging her to join the Princesses to fight this new threat, which they were able to defeat. 

The emotional toll it took on her was greater than any fight she went through. It's still nothing compared to Catra, but hey, it's not a competition. 

"You saved me," Adora pointed out, trying to bring Catra back before she could have any relapses. "I would've drowned had you not jumped into the water to get me out. I would've bled to death on the sand if you didn't bandage my wounds. I could be dead right now, but you're kind of the reason I'm not."

Catra smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What do you mean,  _ you guess?"  _ Adora practically shouted. "You did your best to fix what you did wrong. You're  _ doing  _ your best right now."

"I was thinking.." Catra bit her lip. "I think I wanna do the monthly cryogenic freeze. I want to be able to stay with everyone. I want to meet Entrapta properly. I want to see what Bow's actually like. I want to see these people, and I don't want to do it after an unknown amount of time."

Lonnie hadn't even been able to give them an estimate of time for the cryogenic freeze that lasts all the way through. The whole process was going to be long, but they're glad this is even an option at this point. 

"Whatever you choose, I'll be right here besides you," Adora smiled, trying her best to be encouraging. Of course she wanted Catra to stay with her, so she obviously favored her choice right now. 

"I… I wanted to ask… By any chance do you ever get nightmares? When you stepped out of the room, Lonnie mentioned the freezing goes through my memories so they could take out the bad. She said I may experience all those moments again. I was.. I was just curious if you had any too."

Everyone has a nightmare that comes back to haunt them. But losing Catra is  _ hers.  _ They agreed to try and leave the past behind as much as possible, but every night after the train fall, she had that same dream until she crashed that plane, and then some. 

Instead, she talked about her most recent one. "I dream a lot about what happened in November. I think about seeing you again after all that time and how traumatic it felt. Plus I was arrested after that. I don't even remember it, since I passed out almost immediately after, but…"

"That was the last time Hydra put me under, actually. If my memory is right, then I think I remembered you. After seeing you on the highway and you called me Catra instead of Horde Soldier. I attacked Mara that day, funnily enough. That's why they tried to wipe me again, but it obviously didn't work."

"That's hilarious! I fought with Mara too! She's the one who made me a criminal to S.H.I.E.L.D! I am way more excited about it, but it does make me feel a little better. At least one of the two times I've been accused of a crime, it's true."

"It's fun being on the run," Catra joked. She stared off for a second,then pressed her hand to the lump under Adora's shirt; the bandage Lonnie had given her to heal the burns Glimmer had given her with her gauntlet. "How is your stomach feeling?"

"My abs are still sore as hell," Adora gave a sarcastic thumbs up. "But hey, that's okay. Whatever ointment Lonnie had worked like a miracle. I shouldn't have been able to walk for a while afterward, but I'm doing pretty okay."

"And your back?"

Neither had forgotten about the fairly painful back scratches. While they hadn't been nearly as bad as getting shot in the stomach, or even stabbed in the shoulder, like what happened in November, Lonnie told them that the scars wouldn't fade. 

"My back is fine," Adora said. She's surprised to find herself telling the truth. She planned to sugar coat her injuries just because it's not usually her the one getting hurt, but they're not even aching. "Entrapta already fixed those up, so I'm okay. How about  _ your  _ back? That ladder fall was a pretty hard one?"

Catra grimaced as they recalled the moment she fell off the ladder from a height that would've killed anyone that wasn't a super soldier. "I can still feel it when I move at times, but besides that it's fine."

She nodded. She's  _ glad.  _ She lifted Catra's chin with two of her fingers, their eyes meeting each other. They smiled as they stared for a moment, completely forgetting that they had some sort of mission to go on. What had that been again? 

"You know all of your friends are going to kill you if we stay here and kiss instead of going to go rescue them, right?" Catra pointed out, grabbing Adora's fingers to make her look at the clock. 

Even though they have half an hour before it turned ten and they probably should start heading out, this moment seemed too precious to break. 

If the history books ever tell the story of She-Ra, they might mention how she was a hero who saved everyone in a war against Beast Island. They might remember her as the girl who exposed Hydra for who they were and defeated them twice with the help of her friends. 

Perhaps her story with others is more important. Her time with the Princesses may be the most discussed topic. How they saved everyone during 2012, how they were able to close the portal that opened. When the next big thing comes, who knows if this friendship and team will ever come together again. 

Or, they might choose to talk about when she committed treason. When she split her team in half and they stormed an airport. When she drove the blade of her sword into her friend's symbolic heart. How she's been arrested twice. 

As long as they include Catra in all of these stories, then she's okay with however history paints her. 

"We're going to see the world," Adora said, already fantasizing about their next hideout spot. 

"I'm already looking at it." Catra leaned forward to close the space between them, and they savored every single detail of each other's mouths. "Now, let's go save your friends."

Adora took Catra's hand as they walked out of the rundown apartment, prepared to break into a high security prison. Usually, she'd be wary about where they went. She'd be afraid of an attack, or something coming out of nowhere to come and fight them. She's expecting something to go wrong, but now she knows it won't. 

She knows life will have mercy on their relationship this time around. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I SAVED THIS FOR DECEMBER 16 ON PURPOSE
> 
> This story is my baby, and I'm actually really sad to see it go :(
> 
> I'm not done writing for this universe. I have a couple of things planned, like catradora before the war and what happened after this. Like I have a mini infinity war thing planned, but nothing else is going to be a multi chapter full on fic. 
> 
> Damn, it's weird to see this go. My last multi chapter fic for The Princess Universe. I'mma go now before I get too sentimental. Thank you guys for reading. 
> 
> Love you! <3
> 
> -noemi

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr - adoraang


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